From the Telluride Daily Planet (Katie Klingsporn):
The project aims to provide Telluride with a pure and secure source of water by tapping Blue Lake — located high in upper Bridal Veil Basin. The plan is to pipe water from Blue Lake to a facility built on a shelf of land in the east end of the box canyon, and from there disperse it to town users. Planning of the project has been in the works for more than a decade, and voters approved the bonds in 2006. However, it has been stalled by litigation, as the town wrangled in court with Idarado Mining Company over water rights and easements, and negotiations were still ongoing this summer.
But it lurched back to life early this fall when the town approved a construction contract, and the momentum was carried into a plan to issue the bonds to pay for it. The town’s bond counsel, Steve Jeffers, said the current climate is very favorable for bonding, and urged the town to pull the trigger this fall. By issuing bonds right now, he said, the town could find interest rates at around 3.4 percent. In previous discussions on the matter, Jeffers also indicated that contractor rates are low right now. And he urged the town to issue the bonds just in case a trio of controversial ballot measures, 60, 61 and 101 — which could adversely affect the ability of governments to bond — pass on Tuesday.
More San Miguel River watershed coverage here.