El Paso County commissioners on Monday questioned how a proposed water rule in Colorado Springs could affect future annexations but received unclear answers from Colorado Springs Utilities representatives as the city considers the ordinance.

Over the last four weeks Colorado Springs has mulled a proposed rule that would require the utility to have 130% of the water required to serve existing demand and the projected demand from undeveloped land asking to be annexed. Developers have seemed worried the new ordinance could limit housing construction.

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The Colorado Springs City Council could vote on the ordinance in early January, said Colorado Springs Utilities Board Chairman Wayne Williams, who is also a Colorado Springs councilman. Members of the Utilities board also serve on the City Council.

El Paso County Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez said in an interview Monday he wanted to make sure the proposed rule wouldn’t overly restrict new development in unincorporated areas of the county that could be annexed into Colorado Springs in the future.

“Especially when we’re talking about affordable housing. If that’s the only way to get rooftops, then we should be doing smart growth,” Gonzalez said. “But you don’t want a rule that’s going to overly restrict (development) if it then stops all building.”

For example, the proposed new rule would block Colorado Springs’ annexation of a proposed 3,200-acre community southeast of the city, called Amara, if it took effect before the council voted on Amara’s annexation. 

Commissioners questioned on Monday how the city chose to require Utilities to have 130% of existing and projected water demand, a number the City Council has also not been wholly in agreement on.

“Not knowing what internal conversations the city may have been having … 130% seems arbitrary to me,” Commission Chairman Stan VanderWerf said. 

Williams and Colorado Springs Utilities Chief Systems Planning and Project Officer Lisa Barbato said the 130% figure is roughly the difference between the city’s current water usage each year and the amount of water produced each year.

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“I wouldn’t call it arbitrary because it is based partly on where we actually are at the present time,” Williams said. “But there’s nothing magical at 130% versus 131% or 128%.”

There was no clear formula Monday for how the proposed 130% water supply would be calculated for future development requests. Barbato told commissioners the utilities board would discuss and finalize that formula during its regular meeting Wednesday. 

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Gonzalez questioned the need for the ordinance if city staff should be recommending the City Council does not annex developments that won’t adequately meet water demands.

Current city code, Williams and Barbato said, requires annexation proposals to show they have sufficient water for “the present and projected needs for the foreseeable future to serve all present users whether within or outside the corporate limits of the city.”

The proposed water ordinance would define what “present and projected needs” are, Barbato said. “This gives us some clarity around what (are) the correct parameters that we should be evaluating these annexations around?”

Barbato said based on how Utilities currently calculates the city’s water usage, there is room to annex about 4,200 single-family homes into the city right now.

“The difficult part of that is that’s just a snapshot in time,” VanderWerf said. 

Those numbers will vary as the city and county grow and depending on additional fluctuations in Colorado River water levels. The city receives most of its water from the Colorado River, Barbato said.

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“So what is that number between?” Williams said. “That’s part of what we’re engaged in this public process for. You’re adjusting both for growth, recognizing that it takes time to get additional water. And we’re looking at fluctuations in the Colorado River that historically we’ve never had to face before.”

Using a percentage rather than hard numbers allows the City Council more flexibility when considering future annexation requests, he added.

“It’s reflecting the actual reality of water production and what we do, and it’ll adjust as we continue to acquire water rights,” Williams said.

Infill annexation requests or “unique and extraordinary” situations “that necessitate an extension of water services to serve (the city’s) critical interests” are exempt from the new water rule as proposed, he said.

Williams also told commissioners Colorado Springs Utilities is willing to work with developments outside city boundaries to convey, treat and deliver water to them.

If the City Council passes the ordinance, it can also amend the document as needed if “something isn’t working quite right,” he said.

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