Colorado Springs completing restoration of North Douglas Creek, a 'poster child' project in stormwater progress

Mar. 13—Crews are just weeks away from completing the restoration of the North Douglas Creek channel on Colorado Springs' west side, officials announced Monday, one of several critical projects the city took on to address poor stormwater management that ultimately embroiled the city in a multi-million-dollar federal lawsuit in 2016.

"In many ways I regard this project as the poster child for the city's progress in overcoming its stormwater challenges," Mayor John Suthers said Monday at the construction site.

Officials began efforts to restore the channel in 2019, repairing severe erosion that threatened Sinton Road and Interstate 25, as well as adjacent properties and railroad tracks, a news release states.

To reduce erosion, the channel's new design helps slow rushing waters flowing through it at nearly 20 mph, Stormwater Enterprise Manager Richard Mulledy said.

The $4.6 million project included rebuilding a concrete culvert under I-25 that had fallen into Douglas Creek and grading 20-foot vertical cliffs along the side of the creek to flatter slopes where grasses and trees can be planted to prevent erosion. Crews slowed water flows by flattening the creek bottom and grouting large boulders together, then also removed and relocated nearby utility lines, the release said. It was funded by the city's stormwater enterprise, Colorado Springs Utilities and a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"We've come a long way, but it's important that the city continue to upgrade our stormwater system and not once again neglect our responsibilities," Suthers said.

The North Douglas Creek channel is one of 13 sites the Environmental Protection Agency audited in Colorado Springs in 2013 and 2015, Suthers and Mulledy said. The agency alleged the city had violated its federal stormwater permit by, among other missteps, failing to "properly operate and maintain" stormwater facilities.

In 2016, the EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment filed a high-profile lawsuit against the city seeking civil penalties over water quality violations and shortfalls in Colorado Springs' stormwater program they argued degraded, eroded and widened Fountain Creek and its tributaries.

Water flowing from the creek combined with surface runoff, increased sedimentation and tainted water quality, possibly affecting habitats for fish and other aquatic life, the EPA audits found. The lawsuit also argued it could "make it more difficult and expensive for downstream users," like Pueblo County and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, "to effectively use the water."

Pueblo County and the water district later joined the suit, citing increased E. coli levels, erosion and flooding.

As part of efforts to address the violations, Colorado Springs in a 2016 agreement with Pueblo County committed to spending $460 million over 20 years to build 71 major stormwater projects designed to eliminate sedimentation, detain excessive flows and improve water quality in Fountain Creek for local communities and those downstream. The North Douglas Creek channel was among those projects.

That agreement was necessary, Suthers said, to placate Pueblo County and allow Colorado Springs to pump water from the Pueblo Reservoir through the Southern Delivery System pipeline.

With 14 years left in the agreement Colorado Springs has spent about $125 million to complete or start projects on that list, Mulledy said. About one-forth of the projects are complete and another one-forth of the projects are in the design or construction stages, he said.

"We're getting close to halfway done," he said.

In 2017, Colorado Springs also reinstated a stormwater fee the City Council defunded in 2009 to provide ongoing revenue and catch up on maintenance. Money will help cover $45 million in projects required by a 2021 consent decree approved in the lawsuit against the city, as well as the $460 million the city is spending in its agreement with Pueblo County.

The city's efforts to address its stormwater issues are among his greatest achievements as mayor, Suthers said.

"I frankly think this is one of the things I'm most proud of, because it took a lot of communication with the citizens to explain why we needed to do this and how important it was," the term-limited mayor said. After eight years in the office, Suthers will leave this spring.

Restoring the North Douglas Creek channel will also prove helpful in possible plans to re-envision portions of Fountain Creek, he said, including opportunities to kayak or fish.

"It all fits together. The better job you do on stormwater, the more recreational amenities you're able to use that water for," he said.

Officials have also included more outdoor recreation amenities at other sites, such as installing hiking and biking trails along stormwater infrastructure at Sand Creek, Suthers said.