April 19, 2016 Dear Stakeholder, This letter is to update you on the progress of the City of Fort Collins’ Source Water Protection Plan (SWPP) for their drinking water sources: the Upper Cache la Poudre River and Horsetooth Reservoir, a terminal reservoir on the Colorado-Big Thompson System. As a reminder, this is a voluntary effort to help take preventative measures to keep Fort Collins’ sources of drinking water free from potential contaminants. With assistance from the Colorado Rural Water Association, we have completed a draft of the SWPP and are now making it available to stakeholders and the general public for comments. In the development of the SWPP, we considered potential contaminants to our source waters including historical & active mines, storage tanks, roadways (county, state, and forested roads), wells, septic systems, forest health, recreation, agricultural practices (farming and grazing), wildfire impacts, and flooding. This SWPP identifies the highest concerns in respect to the potential impacts to Fort Collins’ drinking water supplies and recommends best practices to address those concerns. The City of Fort Collins will use the final SWPP to guide its future water quality monitoring and water supply protection priorities. We recognize stakeholder input as an important step to ensuring we establish the best possible protections for the City’s drinking water supplies and we appreciate your feedback on this draft plan. Please submit comments on the SWPP, or questions regarding its development, by email to Jill Oropeza, at
[email protected] by close of business, May 13, 2016. The draft SWPP is also available for download at the City’s Utilities website: http://www.fcgov.com/utilities/whatwe-do/water/source-water-protection-plan. Best Regards,
Jill Oropeza Watershed Specialist City of Fort Collins
[email protected] 970-416-2529
Kimberly Mihelich Source Water Specialist Colorado Rural Water Association
[email protected] 719-248-9116