Residents living in the Black Forest, Colorado, area have noticed large drilling equipment operating near Arroya Lane between Tomahawk and Vollmer roads. The equipment is owned by Hydro Resources Inc., and SR Water LLC, the landowner, contracted the Fort Lupton, Colorado-based company to drill two wells on the Sterling Ranch property, said Mark Volle, a civil engineer with JDS-Hydro Consultants Inc. The developers of Sterling Ranch hired JDS for professional engineering services.The two wells will be drilled to supply water to the subdivision, he said. The well currently being drilled will extend into the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer, the deepest of the four aquifers in the region, according to the Douglas County website. The second well will extend into the Arapahoe aquifer, but that well is not currently being drilled, Volle said.According to the July 2015 issue of ìThe New Falcon Herald,î the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners approved the original sketch plan for the 1,444-acre property in November 2008 and the preliminary plan for the first phase of construction in May 2015. The 182-acre preliminary plan will include 427 houses on a 5,000-square-foot minimum lot size.Ryan Mangino, a director with JDS, said residents might have seen water that appears to be spilling on the ground during drilling operations, but he said it is actually water used in the drilling process that is recycled. ìThe drillers use a mud pit so the water does not spill on the ground or go downstream,î Mangino said. ìThey use water that they have onsite to help drilling, but they recycle it like a carwash does.îVolle said the first two wells are the only ones currently planned, but there is potential for more wells to be drilled in the future.
