Colorado Springs starts 20-year stormwater plan

It took a failed fee, years of contention with Pueblo County and a threatened lawsuit, but Colorado Springs is finally committed to addressing its backlog of drainage projects.

On Wednesday, city planners gathered at Sand Creek near the intersection of Platte Avenue and Powers Boulevard to officially announce the first nine stormwater projects to begin construction this year.

The Sand Creek location is where a two-year, $5.3 million channel stabilization project starts this fall.

Richard Mulledy, the city’s stormwater manager, said previous work has been done at the location but not since 2009.

“The channel has dropped 20 feet since then,” he said. “That’s a lot of sediment ultimately flowing into Fountain Creek and Pueblo County. This project is designed to control that.”

Years of complaints and the threat of legal action by Pueblo County were catalysts in the city reaching an agreement last month to reduce the project backlog.

Sand Creek is a major drainage channel on the city’s east side and the location of two of the nine projects scheduled this year.

“The retention ponds near Black Forest and Woodmen roads that we started in March, that’s at the top of the list,” Mulledy said of the $3 million project.

Another project is the construction of a storm sewer downtown, along Pikes Peak Avenue between Nevada Avenue and a creek and park known as Shooks Run.

The sewer will be designed to handle a 100-year storm event.

Joy Grise grew up in the Shooks Run neighborhood and still lives there.

“The fact they’re going to make more storm drains is a good idea,” she said. “I like that because we had issues with people getting caught in the flood last year. We have to realize that we live on a mountain and water flows downhill from everywhere.”

David Alexander occasionally rides his bike through the park.

“I think some of the projects are needed at certain points,” he said. “There are times when I’ve seen some situations where things have been washed out. But I’m also glad the projects will include trail improvements that help bikers and not just drivers.”

The city says money for the projects will come from existing funding sources.

In 2011, a stormwater enterprise fee charged to property owners for funding improvements was repealed by voters and dissolved by the City Council.

The fee was criticized because property owners who had more impervious surfaces were charged a higher rate.

Since 2011, the city had struggled to find a stable funding source.

But Grise said she and her neighbors supported the fee.

“It gave us money to fix erosion in Shooks Run,” she said.

To view an interactive map of planned stormwater projects in the city, visit http://www.ColoradoSprings.gov/StormwaterProjects.