Sixteen Pikes Peak regional water projects that will improve drinking water infrastructure, provide sustainable water sources, upgrade facilities and manage sewage are receiving millions of dollars in grants to help them over the finish line.

El Paso County officials on Monday announced they allocated just under $21 million in American Rescue Plan Act monies to fund “critical” water and wastewater projects that will serve nearly 54,000 current homes and could serve around 95,000 homes by 2050. The funds are part of nearly $140 million in federal coronavirus assistance dollars allocated to El Paso County through the 2021 stimulus bill.

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“This is a once-in-a-lifetime funding opportunity for many of these water projects and related infrastructure,” said El Paso County Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez, who represents the county’s fourth district where many of the water projects awarded grants on Monday are located. 

The county opened its grant application process in March and asked third-party water experts to thoroughly review and score each project, El Paso County Administrator Bret Waters said. County officials prioritized projects related to water recycling, contaminant removal, rural projects and those with a “low chance of viability” without the funding, he said.

Ramah Town Trustee Joe Allen said the $2 million awarded to his rural town of just 125 residents to help build a new sewer project saved officials from taking out large loans and passing on inflated costs to residents.

“Obtaining this grant is a big step in making sure our residents’ rates do not have to be increased substantially,” he said.

The project will include a new pond system to treat wastewater, Allen said. The town’s sewer system is unlined and is too small to adequately serve its needs, he said. In 2020, town officials expected to pay $2.5 million to construct the new system, the most costly step, but the final price tag is now unknown because of inflation. Construction should start in the spring, he said.

The city of Fountain received $2.147 million to help build a reservoir and water treatment plant that will pull water from Fountain Creek, treat it on site, then re-integrate it back into the city’s water system where it then flows to residents.

The project is still in early development stages and a final cost is unknown, Fountain’s Water Resources and Engineering Manager Taylor Murphy said.

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The project, Mayor Sharon Thompson said, “will serve as a major contributor to our ability to provide the treated water that we need to serve our expanding community.” The city’s 2021 master plan states Fountain is approaching its water system’s limit to adequately supply treated water to meet maximum daily demands; this project is one of five options the City Council considered as solutions.

Security Water District, the Widefield Water and Sanitation District and Venetucci Farm were also among the grant winners. Those entities and the city of Fountain, Gonzalez said, had put up non-refundable dollars to immediately address mitigating high levels of “forever chemicals,” or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, discovered in their wells in 2016 as a result of pollution from firefighting foam.

“Most importantly, all of our water districts absolutely provide safe, clean water,” Gonzalez said, due to swift contamination mitigation efforts from the county, state and federal governments. “But this was one good opportunity to help those districts and the city of Fountain get more dollars to put toward projects that may have gone unfunded because they put some funds up front” to mitigate forever chemicals in their water, he said.

The largest grant – $4 million – was awarded to a proposed regional water project called “the loop,” which can be used to pay for the approximately $160 million to $200 million project’s engineering design, Cherokee Metropolitan District General Manager Amy Lathen said Monday.

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The project aims to provide a sustainable water supply and relieve pressure off the Denver Basin, a finite resource that provides water to thousands of El Paso County residents. The loop would use its members’ water rights to divert water from Fountain Creek to Chilcott ditch in southern El Paso County and deliver it to a nearby reservoir. There, providers would treat it to near-potable standards at an onsite treatment facility before pumping it northward and delivering it to users along the way. Water providers would treat the water again to ensure it’s clean, then deliver it to their customers.

“When we get it all connected, water providers along the loop will be able to provide renewable water, which is something we cannot do right now in perpetuity,” Lathen said.

Security Water & Sanitation District: $970,800

Donala Water & Sanitation District: $1.65 million

Forest View Acres Water District: $1.55 million

Venetucci Farm: $79,500

City of Fountain: $2,147,652

Widefield Water & Sanitation District: $1.5 million

Monument Sanitation District: $684,025

Town of Ramah: $2 million

Town of Calhan: $405,000

The Loop: $4 million

Rock Creek Metropolitan District: $1,210,780

Stratmoor Hills Water & Sanitation Districts: $682,000

Palmer Lake Sanitation District: $1 million

Red Rock Valley Estates Water District: $1 million

Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District: $1 million

Triview Metropolitan District: $1 million