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<b>Information meeting set</b>
For now, the state is still focusing on outreach and education, hoping to get well-water users to sign up for one of the augmentation plans. An information meeting for affected property owners is scheduled for May 3, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m at the Summit County Senior/Community Center at the County Commons near Frisco. For more information, call (970) 468-2442 or (970) 945-5665, ext. 5015.
SUMMIT COUNTY —Kent Gloor wasn’t exactly happy when he recently received a letter telling him that state officials may revoke his well permit and curtail his use of water.
“The tone of the letter was a little direct,” said the Breckenridge Heights property owner. “I’m sure there will be some homeowners who will be pretty upset.” Gloor referred to several hundred residents and property owners targeted by the continued crackdown on unauthorized well-water use.
At issue are state laws that limit well water use to indoor, domestic purposes for certain types of wells. The general idea is, if you use groundwater to irrigate a lawn or wash a car, at least a portion of that water doesn’t make it back into surface streams.
In effect, that water is lost to a potential downstream user with senior water rights. The problem has grown as more well users get hooked up to sewer systems, resulting in an even greater net loss to groundwater flows.
“If you’re using water outside the conditions of your permit, you’re using someone else’s water,” said state water commissioner Scott Hummer. “The water that trickles down the mountain and fills the fissures in the rock where the well is goes down into a stream, where a rancher or a municipality may have senior rights to that water.”
To make up for that so-called consumptive use, property owners must pay for augmentation water, costing anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on the amount of water at issue. Summit County government offers an augmentation plan, as does Vidler Water, a private company based in Carson City, Nevada.
Gloor said his use of water complies with the terms of his well permit, and he plans to send the Division of Water Resources a letter explaining his position by the May 18 deadline. But there may be scores of other local residents who are affected by the ongoing enforcement action.
As early as this summer, the Division of Water Resources could issue orders for the removal of bushes and lawns on properties where well-water use is deemed to be illegal, said Hummer.
“We have an obligation to ensure there are no injuries to senior water rights,” Hummer said.
For now, the state is still focusing on outreach and education, hoping to get well-water users to sign up for one of the augmentation plans. An information meeting for affected property owners is scheduled for May 3, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m at the Summit County Senior/Community Center at the County Commons near Frisco. For more information, call (970) 468-2442 or (970) 945-5665, ext. 5015.
SUMMIT COUNTY —Kent Gloor wasn’t exactly happy when he recently received a letter telling him that state officials may revoke his well permit and curtail his use of water.
“The tone of the letter was a little direct,” said the Breckenridge Heights property owner. “I’m sure there will be some homeowners who will be pretty upset.” Gloor referred to several hundred residents and property owners targeted by the continued crackdown on unauthorized well-water use.
At issue are state laws that limit well water use to indoor, domestic purposes for certain types of wells. The general idea is, if you use groundwater to irrigate a lawn or wash a car, at least a portion of that water doesn’t make it back into surface streams.
In effect, that water is lost to a potential downstream user with senior water rights. The problem has grown as more well users get hooked up to sewer systems, resulting in an even greater net loss to groundwater flows.
“If you’re using water outside the conditions of your permit, you’re using someone else’s water,” said state water commissioner Scott Hummer. “The water that trickles down the mountain and fills the fissures in the rock where the well is goes down into a stream, where a rancher or a municipality may have senior rights to that water.”
To make up for that so-called consumptive use, property owners must pay for augmentation water, costing anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on the amount of water at issue. Summit County government offers an augmentation plan, as does Vidler Water, a private company based in Carson City, Nevada.
Gloor said his use of water complies with the terms of his well permit, and he plans to send the Division of Water Resources a letter explaining his position by the May 18 deadline. But there may be scores of other local residents who are affected by the ongoing enforcement action.
As early as this summer, the Division of Water Resources could issue orders for the removal of bushes and lawns on properties where well-water use is deemed to be illegal, said Hummer.
“We have an obligation to ensure there are no injuries to senior water rights,” Hummer said.
How much water?
According to Hummer, the total amount of water at issue in Summit County is about 125 acre feet. An acre foot is about 326,000 gallons, enough to supply the domestic needs of an average family for one year. For the sake of comparison, Denver Water diverts about 60,000 to 80,000 acre feet annually from Dillon Reservoir.
While it may not seem like a large amount in the bigger picture, Hummer said it’s a clear sign that there simply isn’t enough water to meet all the needs.
“We have a finite resource that’s over-appropriated. The total demand for the resource has brought us to a place where we need to enforce well permits,” Hummer said last year describing the same issue. “We have a problem. We don’t have enough water to meet everyone’s demands.”
This year, Hummer was more succinct.
“Every stinking drop counts. There are eyeballs looking at every drop,” he said.
County officials previously expressed concern that Summit County and a few other areas are being singled out, and called on the state to apply the rules across the board.
“We’re a test case. We’re the Guinea pigs,” said County Commissioner Tom Long, wondering whether the long-threatened enforcement will this time proceed beyond the saber-rattling stage.
