Construction on the Sundance Water Supply Project is nearing completion including the pipes that were placed (buried) on either side of and underneath Woodmen Road, west of Falcon. The project will supply water from the Sundance Ranch to the Cherokee Metropolitan District.According to the March 2013 issue of The New Falcon Herald, the CMD bought the rights to the water below the Sundance Ranch, which is in Black Forest off Hodgen Road, in October 2011 and acquired additional rights in December 2012. The water at that site is located in the Denver Basin aquifer. Obtaining those rights will replace water the district had been leasing from Colorado Springs.ìOver the past four years, weíve spent about $1.9 million to $3 million per year on leased water from the city of Colorado Springs,î said Sean Chambers, general manager of the Cherokee district. ìWe expect that the same amount of water weíll deliver to ourselves (through the Sundance project) next year will cost about $300,000 to produce and supply.îAl Watson from Development Services Inc. is the project manager. He said the project includes a treatment plant and pump station at the well site at the Sundance Ranch, about 5 miles of pipeline that runs southeast to a 4.7 million gallon tank on Frank Road in Black Forest and about 12 miles of pipeline south to CMD’s existing Tamlin water tank.† The entire pipeline consists of 24 inch diameter pipes, he said.ìWeíll pump water from the well to the Frank tank and then it will gravity-flow down to the Tamlin tank,î Watson said. ìThereís about 700 feet of elevation difference from the Frank tank to the Tamlin tank.îChambers said the route that the CMD chose to run the pipeline has the least amount of environmental and traffic impact. ìWe tried to stay out of the asphalt roads; we bored under wetlands along the route,î he said.At varying places along the pipeline, the district also placed about 25 fire hydrants that will provide water as needed for the Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District, Watson said. ìWe coordinated with Black Forest Fire to place the hydrants at the ideal locations,î he said.Chambers said the Frank tank caused the most controversy in the community during the planning stages. ìItís been interesting to see peopleís change in perspective about the project, in part due to their shift in reality because of the Black Forest fire,î he said. ìOverall, they seem OK with it now.îWatson said 74 trees were transplanted onto the property around Frank tank to lessen the visual impact of its location. Chambers said the CMD also buried the tank about 10 feet. ìWhen it (the tank) is full and operational, it wonít sound or look any different than it does now,î he said.The estimated completion date of the Frank tank site is Nov. 30, Chambers said. The overall project is about 80 percent complete and should be live to CMD customers by January 2015, he said.
