Progress made on stormwater projects in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs has spent $10 million on nine stormwater projects this year, the first year of an agreement with Pueblo County.

“Two of those projects actually are an assortment of smaller projects,” said Richard Mulledy, the city’s stormwater manager. “But we’ve made tremendous progress by hitting the ground running. The projects are either under construction, in design or already finished.”

One of the completed projects is a retention basin on Woodmen Road.

“We can hold runoff in that for up to 72 hours and then gradually release it into Sand Creek,” Mulledy said. “Doing that prevents erosion and flooding downstream.”

Sand Creek at Platte Avenue is among the projects still in the design phase.

“It’s a major project that will cost $5.2 million,” Mulledy said. “Designing a project like that can take six months to a year.”

Several of the planned projects are along Sand Creek, a major drainage channel on the city’s east side.

Laurie Ostasiewski, who lives along the creek north of the Platte Avenue project, said she hopes the city will plan a project in her neighborhood.

“Runoff washes down a hill,” she said. “We get everyone’s debris and it clogs the storm drain. We try to keep it clean, but sometimes it’s just too much, like a river running through here.”

Colorado Springs and Pueblo County reached an agreement on stormwater issues earlier this year, after the county threatened legal action because of water quality concerns in Fountain Creek, flowing from the city into the county.

To avoid a lawsuit, the city committed to spend around $20 million during the next 20 years on around 70 stormwater projects.

Settling the dispute was one of the goals of Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers when he took office last year.