Pueblo County Commissioner Terry Hart gave Colorado Springs good marks on stormwater control projects on Fountain Creek for 2017. If the assessment passes the test of time, the $37 million reportedly spent on stormwater control projects as of Dec. 31 is a good start – but only a start – on cleaning up all the destructive erosion and sediment buildup that adversely affects Fountain Creek water quality.

“The things we are seeing now are literally what we have asked for, for over a decade. They are literally doing it,” Hart said. “It doesn’t mean that everything is fixed. We have given them the same admonition that we always do: Things are looking very good, but part of the reason for that is our political relationship between the two communities is very good right now.”

Hart spoke a mouthful, tempering a positive report, as far as it goes, with the understandable caution that Pueblo must have in dealing with Colorado Springs on Fountain Creek problems caused by the seemingly unending urban growth of El Paso County. Colorado Springs is committed by a legal agreement with Pueblo County to end the negative impacts downstream in Pueblo and the Lower Arkansas River.

Read more at The Pueblo Chieftain.