Collaboration inWatershed

Management

Mark Shea - Watershed Planning - Colorado Springs Utilities

Colorado Springs UtilitiesWho We Are

Four-service utility providerElectric, natural gas,

water, wastewaterOver 650,000 customers

Local government oversight

Community-owned non-profit

Rate-based, not tax supportedAnnual operating budget

around $1 billion

Colorado Springs UtilitiesRaw Water System

• Seven major subsystems• Most shared with partners

• 25 Reservoirs & dams• Pipe water over 200 miles from mountains to treatment• Spans over nine counties

Colorado Springs UtilitiesWatershed Lands

• 67 distinct watersheds

• Over 650 sq. mi • ~360,000 acres rural• ~ 150,000 acres urban

• Only 16,000 acres owned• 2,500 acres by U.S. Forest Service Special Use Permits

Colorado Springs UtilitiesWatershed Pressures & Risks

• Increases in development• Increases in public uses• Forest health• Wildfire• Post-fire Conditions• Flooding

Colorado Springs UtilitiesWatershed Management

Strategies• U.S. Forest Service •Memorandum of Understanding• Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration

• State Forest Service• Treat Utilities land•Non-profits & local agencies • Colorado Springs Fire• Coalition for the Upper South Platte ($1M grant)

Questions?

Colorado Springs Utilities Catamount Wildland Fire Team

“Making a Difference in the Community”

Colorado Springs UtilitiesQuestions?