Since its inception in 1979, the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Groundwater Management District (UBS) has carried out its legal responsibility to protect both the quantity and quality of the groundwater in the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Designated Basin, which underlies the eastern portion of El Paso County.Virtually all of the residents of eastern El Paso County rely on the groundwater in the Basin as their water source, which is accessed by a variety of wells, both private and commercial. Today, as in the past, the UBS reviews and responds to a wide range of applications, proposals and activities that impact the Basin and raise concerns about either the quantity or quality of groundwater within the Basin.The purpose of this letter is to inform the patrons of the UBS about a recent Water Court application filed by Meridian Service Metropolitan District (Meridian SMD), which serves the Meridian Ranch Development north of Falcon.To quote directly from the Dec. 22, 2010, Meridian SMD draft engineering report prepared in support of the application, “Meridian SMD proposes to collect some of the surface water runoff that accrues within Meridian Ranch from precipitation events from four sub-basins within the district boundary,” store that water in “an approximately 55,000,000 gallon (169 acre-feet (ac-ft)) reservoir” and “then use the water stored in the reservoir to supply irrigation water to the schools, parks, open spaces, golf course, and landscaped parkways throughout Meridian Ranch using an approved re-cycled water delivery system.”Further, the engineering report states that “Meridian SMD will claim the surface water runoff capture (sic) in the four sub-basins that drain to the unnamed tributary as part of a new junior right, with the case to be filed in Division 2 Water Court.”In short, Meridian SMD is proposing to capture and store rainwater without a required replacement plan. Because the Basin is already over-appropriated, the UBS has grave concerns that well owners, particularly those private well owners who are near neighbors to and south of the Meridian Ranch development, will be negatively impacted if this proposal becomes a reality. And because anything that has the potential to inhibit aquifer recharge will ultimately negatively impact the Basin, the UBS intends to oppose the Meridian SMD proposal by filing a statement of opposition with the Water Court.For further information and/or a copy of the application with maps of the proposed diversion and storage locations, please contact the UBS office at 719-347-0704.Sincerely,UBS Board of Directors
