Pueblo West Metro District passes year lease with Pueblo Water to help shortage

Jul. 27—In its regular meeting Monday, the Pueblo West Metro District unanimously passed a one-year lease of 1,560-acre feet of water from Pueblo Board of Water Works.

One acre foot is 325,851 gallons of water at a cost of $775.51 per acre foot, bringing the total lease cost to $1,209,795.60 plus a $2,500 administration fee.

Pueblo West Metro District Director of Utilities Jim Blasing said this agreement will aid in getting the community ahead of the water shortages it has experienced.

Pueblo West went into a voluntary water restriction in June due to low snowpack on the front range and drought conditions.

Blasing emphasized the seriousness of this as 85% of the community's water comes from the western slope.

"This is to help us get along with our current needs as well as maybe sustain some growth that we are experiencing," Blasing said.

Pueblo West Metro District Board President Doug Proal noted the front range is receiving about 60% of its normal yield, but this lease will bring it to approximately 90%.

In its monthly meeting on July 20, Pueblo Board of Water's President Thomas Autobee said a priority has always been to look toward the future to ensure the city of Pueblo has plentiful, high-quality water at the lowest possible cost.

"That mission drives every decision we make," Autobee added. "Pueblo's water supply is plentiful and Pueblo's future water outlook remains positive. Because of that, we can offer this one-year lease to our neighbors in Pueblo West without impact to our valuable customers.

"We know that the vitality of Pueblo West is crucial to Pueblo and to the region and we hope that this will ease some of the burdens that those in Pueblo West face during this drought."

Proal said Monday that he was grateful for this relationship opportunity with Pueblo Board of Water.

"We all recognize that future growth and stability of the Pueblo region revolves around these types of collaborative relationships," Proal said.

This lease will begin Aug. 1 and will expire July 31, 2022.

Proal also commended the residents for their efforts in reducing water usage since the restriction went into effect.

"We're down about 15%," Proal said. "Our goal was 10% so I think the community as a whole has done a great job conserving."

The metro approved two other resolutions during the Monday meeting.

The first was a resolution for a funds transfer agreement with the Federal Highway Administration to allow all anticipated matching funds to be paid prior to the expenses being incurred for the South McCulloch Boulevard and Nichols Road Intersection Improvements Project.

This multi-model project connects trails in Pueblo West with those at Lake Pueblo and the city of Pueblo. The motion carried 5-0.

Another resolution carried 5-0 which updated the authorized signers for all accounts held in the name of Pueblo West Metro District following the departure of the district manager.

Roni Kimbrel, director of finance for the district, noted the district was required to remove the former district manager as a signer and add the interim manager, Brian Caserta, to the current bank accounts as well as to open accounts with its new provider, Bank of the San Juans.

Chieftain and Pueblo West View reporter Alexis Smith can be reached by email at asmith@chieftain.com or on Twitter @smith_alexis27.