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