The Loop project, a multimillion-dollar plan to bring water access to El Paso County communities, has lost one of its four authority members due to unforeseen costs related to removing “forever” chemicals. 

Cherokee Metropolitan District withdrew from the intergovernmental agreement in December, leaving the town of Monument and two other water districts — Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District and Donala Water and Sanitation District — still on board for the renewable water project estimated to cost upward of $165 million.

Interim general manager Kevin Brown said the decision came as the district weighed the costs of removing forever chemicals, which were found in fluctuating amounts above allowable limits. 

“We need to dedicate our financial resources to that first,” he said. 

Forever chemicals are man-made and may be linked to many long-term health effects including cancer and an increase in cholesterol. A term for thousands of related substances, forever chemicals are known for remaining in the human body long after exposure. Regulations for limits in drinking water are evolving at the state and federal level. 

Unlike some districts in southeast Colorado, Cherokee was not a beneficiary of funding from the military to offset the costs of removing forever chemicals. Forever chemicals were found to have likely entered the water supply in Fountain and Security-Widefield through the use of firefighting foam on Peterson Space Force Base. 

Brown said Cherokee was part of lawsuits against major chemical manufacturers like 3M and Dupont, but any payouts were uncertain. 

“The only thing we know is it will not cover the whole costs,” he said. 

Cherokee is working on its final report on how it plans to remove forever chemicals and will release the report later this year. Brown said the district had experimented with different methods, all of which would require the building of a new dedicated plant. 

The district has a mandatory compliance deadline through the state of mid-April 2029. 

Brown said the issue came to the district’s attention in 2023, when new testing and new compliance levels came into effect. Previously, he said the district did not find problematic levels of forever chemicals. 

“It was a surprise, but we’re going to make it work,” he said. 

The pivot takes the district out of the running for renewable water through the Loop project, which plans to recycle water running down Monument and Fountain creeks back up and into northern El Paso County. 

In April, Monument Town Council heard and rejected a plan to restructure the Loop board to allow two representatives from each of the member agencies instead of one, ensuring a quorum if one member was absent. The proposal, presented by Monument Public Works Director Tom Tharnish, found pushback from councilmembers concerned about the legality of the change. 

The proposal would have needed unanimous approval from all three of the agencies. 

Brown said Cherokee still believed in the usefulness of the Loop project, adding that the district was the smallest among the member agencies by water share. 

“We’re still very committed to see the Loop project’s success,” he said. 

Instead, Cherokee has worked to securing water rights in the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin. Brown said the district was about 90% toward the goal of setting up water infrastructure on that project. 

“It’s less critical for our future than it was,” he said of the Loop project.