Oil and gas company Civitas is making way on the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan, which will guide drilling in Arapahoe County including in areas near the Aurora Reservoir.

An application from Civitas for the State Sunlight-Long well pad was deemed complete by the county, opening up a public comment period available via web form until 11:59 p.m. April 4. 

Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission voted in August to green light a fracking plan from Civitas near the reservoir after days of testimony and years of controversy.

The Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan from Civitas includes 32,000 acres of proposed subsurface mineral development with eight locations and a total of 166 new wells and 14 existing horizontal wells. Part of the plan includes drilling about 7,000 feet under the Aurora Reservoir.

Civitas spent two years obtaining approval from the state for oil and gas drilling, finally getting it after a hearing that lasted three full days.

While the overall plan was approved by the commission, Civitas still has to submit an oil and gas development plan (OGDP) application for each of its proposed well sites before moving forward.

Each application has to be approved by both the ECMC and Arapahoe County before Civitas drills hit the ground. 

The commission recently deemed the company’s first application complete for the State La Plata South OGDP, opening a 45-day public comment period that ended in early February.

A public hearing was held in late January for the State La Plata South OGDP as well, and the ECMC will hold a final hearing on the site on April 2. The application has not yet been deemed complete by the county.

If approved, the State La Plata South well pad would go on State Land Board property about one mile south of East Quincy Avenue and five miles east of South Harvest Road. The proposed pad would be 520 feet by 1,050 feet and include 17 wells.

The State Sunlight-Long application, which is currently open for public comment, has been deemed complete by the county, but not yet by the ECMC. 

If approved, the State Sunlight-Long well pad would go on State Land Board property about a mile and a half north of County Line Road. The proposed site would have 32 wells on a gravel pad that would be 750 feet by 1,300 feet, according to the pending application. 

The approval of the Lowry Ranch CAP is the culmination of a two-year effort by Civitas, which came with pushback from activists and area residents who live near the proposed drilling sites. 

Save the Aurora Reservoir, a nonprofit formed to protect the reservoir from oil and gas operations, has attempted to stop the overall plan from moving forward. Other community members have joined the effort as well, citing concerns about health and safety, the project’s effect on the “climate crisis,” risks of water contamination and threats to local wildlife.

Civitas has countered that the project offers unequivocal benefits to the surrounding areas and to the county and it would would yield an estimated $235 million in tax revenue for Arapahoe County.

Company officials also promised to adopt a wide array of precautions, including building wells farther away from homes and adding air monitoring and sound barriers to protect residents and ensure the project does not negatively affect the area.

On Wednesday, Save the Aurora Reservoir spokesperson Susan Doherty said the organization is continuing to fight the individual applications by contacting officials, showing up to public hearings and sharing their concerns. 

In particular, STAR is frustrated that the county has not held a public hearing on State Sunlight-Long, Doherty said.

The pad would sit about 3,000 feet from the nearest homes and about 3,300 feet from the Aurora Reservoir, Doherty said, and STAR President Randy Willard added that the distance and the county’s lack of a public hearing on the site is “completely unacceptable.”

“The county’s silence feels like a slap in the face and just further evidence that they don’t take our health or concerns seriously,” Willard said. 

An Arapahoe County spokesperson said the county has been “diligent” about developing strict regulations.

“As a result, we have confidence in the delegated administrative decision-making process outlined in the Land Development Code and the analysis of our public works and development team to achieve established goals to protect the health and safety of our residents,” the spokesperson said. “Public Works staff will thoroughly review the application materials and public comments before making a final decision.”