Water Source Primer
My name is Marco Fiorito, and I am a previous member of the Board of Directors of the Triview Metro District. Along with staff, other Directors, and the district’s consultants, I assembled this primer on water after repeatedly observing inaccurate, misleading and erroneous information during various public forums and on social media.
How Triview pays for purchasing renewable water
Bonds $40+ million
(issued bonds for water rights, existing storage and infrastructure)
$22 million
Cash purchase for Northern Delivery System
Triview purchases water from 3 regions
Upper Arkansas
Bale – Ownership of the Bale Ditch No. 1 and 50% of the Bale Ditch No. 2 shares representing approximately 92 acre-feet.
AVIC – Ownership of the Arkansas Valley Irrigation Company shares representing an average annual yield of approximately 569 acre-feet.
Lower Arkansas
Excelsior – Excelsior Irrigation Co. – Triview owns approximately 40.2% share of the Excelsior Irrigating Company, representing approximately 720.8 acre-feet.
Stonewall – this includes East, Central and South Reservoirs (19,538 acre-foot storage complex of which 1,630 acre feet of the South reservoir has been completed.) Triview has 19,538 shares in the Stonewall Springs Reservoir Company, representing approximately 19,538 acre-feet of conditional storage capacity.
Fountain Creek
Triview owns 1,057 shares in the Fountain Mutual Irrigation Company, which generates 740-acre feet of water per year, entitling Triview to 1,000 acre-feet of storage in the Big Johnson Reservoir.
Triview stores the water in 3 reservoirs
Big Johnson Reservoir
Access to water storage in Big Johnson Reservoir through its ownership of 1,057 shares of the Fountain Mutual Irrigation Company. (Approximately 1,000 acre-feet of storage)
Stonewall Springs Reservoir
2,050-acre-feet of storage through the Excelsior Ditch.
Ownership of 2,050 acre-feet of conditional water storage rights in the Stonewall Springs Reservoir Complex (1630 acre-feet of storage) filled by conveyance through the Excelsior Ditch, and 19,538 shares in the Stonewall Springs Reservoir Company, representing approximately 19,538 acre-feet of conditional storage capacity.
Pueblo Reservoir
In 2022, Triview was approved for a 1041 permit that allowed the district to store 999 acre-feet of water in Pueblo Reservoir through a 40-year lease. In 2023, Triview received approval on a second 1041 permit from Pueblo County for:
- Exchange of Triview water rights in the Excelsior Irrigating Company, Fountain Mutual Irrigation Company and other water rights delivered via Fountain Creek between Stonewall Springs Reservoir and Pueblo Reservoir;
- Storage of this water in Pueblo Reservoir;
- Operation of appropriate rights of exchange on Fountain Creek;
- Delivery through the Pueblo Reservoir North Outlet Works and the Southern Delivery System Pipeline and the Northern Delivery System project (under construction) to Triview’s municipal service area;
- Storage of water in Stonewall Springs Reservoir Complex (approximately 1,850-acre feet) for exchange and use by Triview and others; and permission to construct Stonewall Springs Central Reservoir.
Excess Storage Capacity and Conveyance Agreement in Pueblo Reservoir
Triview Renewable Water Plan
Water Projects
Northern Water Delivery System
The proposed Northern Delivery System would construct a booster pump station, 10-mile pipeline and tank which would move potable water from a tank at the northern edge of the Colorado Springs Utilities service area to northern water systems.
North Monument Creek Interceptor Project
Regional cooperation, especially with a resource as precious as water, is critical to the ongoing growth and success of the Triview Metro District. In 2021, Triview, Forest Lakes Metropolitan District and Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) signed the NMCI agreement to collect wastewater flows from Triview and Forest Lakes and transport those flows for treatment in Colorado Springs via a 10-mile pipeline.
As of April 2024, a design engineer is on board and they are working on initial design plans. Once completed, engineers will calculate project cost estimates and will work with CSU on approvals.
Click here for more information or to see a map of possible pipeline routes.
Stonewall Springs Reservoir Company
The district continues to secure reliable water sources as it transitions from non-renewable Denver Basin groundwater to renewable surface water. In doing so, the district has made a series of recent water purchases with the Stonewall Springs Reservoir Co. The district has constructed 1,630 acre-feet of storage out of a total of 2,050 acres (including inlet and outlet works) in the South Reservoir at Stonewall Springs. The water to fill the South Reservoir comes from the Arkansas River, just east of Pueblo, Fountain Creek, Denver Basin return flows, and the district’s Upper Arkansas Basin water assets. Stonewall includes two other reservoirs, the East and Central, which will be constructed in the future.
Triview 1.5 Million Gallon Water Project
Once completed, the new 1.5 million-gallon tank will allow the existing 30-year-old tank to go offline for much-needed maintenance, while ensuring reliable service without interruption. Additionally, having a second tank increases the district’s firefighting readiness, providing extra resources in case of emergencies. This new tank, combined with the existing B Plant tank and the tank adjacent to the C Plant pump house, gives the district 4.1 million gallons of total water storage. This investment in water infrastructure is a vital step toward a safer, more reliable future for the community.
For more information about the Triview water supply, here is a 2023 Water Quality Summary Report from Colorado Springs Utilities: Colorado Springs Utilities Water Quality Report