Residents raise drought concerns at meeting on annexation southeast of Colorado Springs

Oct. 25—The drought across the West dominated concerns at a Colorado Springs town hall Tuesday about the possibility of adding 3,200 acres southeast of town that could be transformed into a new community of about 9,500 homes.

The proposed community, known as Amara, is bounded on three sides by the city of Fountain and does not share a boundary with the city of Colorado Springs. Under state law, Colorado Springs can add it as a "flagpole" annexation, with Bradley Road serving as the pole.

Proponents for the project have argued it could provide necessary housing and about 8,800 jobs. Those opposed are concerned about the overall drain on resources, particularly water, to serve an area that is not directly adjacent to the city.

Colorado Springs and Fountain residents raised concerns that the addition of thousands of new homes and potentially 2 million square feet of commercial space in Amara could be a drain on water resources at a time when the seven states that rely on Colorado River must make cutbacks. Colorado Springs relies on the Colorado River for 70% of its water.

"The Colorado River Basin cannot support the current demands on it. ... Money does not translate into water, when the supply of water is not there," said Anna Lopez, a Colorado Springs resident.

Water has been at the center of the debate around Amara in recent weeks for city and Colorado Springs Utilities officials, as well, because they are mulling a requirement that could prohibit Amara from annexing. The rule introduced for the first time publicly last week would require Utilities to have 130% of the water needed to serve a three-year average of city demand and the projected future demand from land asking to annex. Utilities is a few thousand acre-feet shy of having enough to serve Amara's projected long-term demand under the proposed rule.

Utilities can provide 95,000 acre-feet of treated water well above the three-year average demand of about 75,000 acre-feet. An acre-foot of water can serve about three homes for a year. At full build-out, Amara estimates that it could require 3,500 acre-feet of water, meaning Utilities has water that could serve the project that would provide badly needed housing for Colorado Springs that has become more and more unaffordable, said Doug Quimby, president of La Plata Communities. Quimby's company built a major portion of Briargate.

La Plata Communities also would pay $65 million in fees during the project to help develop Utilities' water system, he said.

La Plata Communities expects to work with Utilities for gas, electric and sewer services, as well, but would likely rely on some of Fountain's infrastructure, Quimby said. For example, La Plata Communities could use some Fountain's electric lines and work through Colorado Springs Utilities to have its wastewater treated by the Fountain Sanitation District. Those agreements have not been finalized, he said.

Traffic from Amara also would likely flow through the old portion of Fountain, placing pressure on the community's roads, Deputy City Manager Todd Evans said. Upgrading all the road infrastructure needed to support the project, including extending Powers Boulevard south, could hit $1 billion, he said.

La Plata Communities has not worked with Fountain on an agreement to improve impacted roads yet, he said.

"It is going to be a huge challenge logistically," Evans said.

Quimby said his company would improve roads adjacent to the property or pay a portion of those improvements.

Police service also is a concern for Fountain, because the Colorado Springs Police Department is not proposing to have a substation in Amara.

So Fountain police probably would have to respond first to calls within Amara, Evans said.

Colorado Springs police did not provide an estimate for how long it could take for officers to respond to Amara during an earlier meeting.

Residents voiced some concern about traffic and public safety, but focused mainly on water, with some residents supporting the new rule proposed by Utilities.

Resident Joseph Boyle noted the 30% buffer built in the proposed water rule seemed minimal and called on Utilities to hold itself to prudent and careful standards.

"We could be risking more than we realize," he said.