To: Members of the Castle Rock Water Commission
From:
Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Title
Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority and Regulation 38 Update
Body
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Executive Summary
Water Commission was updated at our April meeting that the Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority (CCBWQA) took a position adverse to Castle Rock Water’s use of Rueter Hess Reservoir (RHR) during the pre-hearing statement process of the Regulation 38 rule making proceedings. Essentially, the CCBWQA recommended that the State adopt interim phosphorus and chlorophyll a standards for RHR, standards which the reservoir would not meet. This position was actually different than the position that was presented to the board of the CCBWQA in their March Board Meeting. Castle Rock Water (CRW) and Parker Water and Sanitation District (PWSD) called attention to this issue with the Authority Manager. Subsequently, CRW and PWSD also submitted a letter to the board identifying this failure in process for the entire board to understand, see Attachment A.
CRW along with PWSD believe that water quality standards should be set for the reservoir based on its use as a drinking water reservoir and not based on requirements for the Cherry Creek watershed. The CCBWQA prepared a Rebuttal Statement to the Regulation 38 rule making proceedings reversing their initial position and stating that they no longer supported interim phosphorus and chlorophyll a standards for the reservoir. CRW and PWSD plan to meet with individual board members on an ongoing basis to help them better understand how RHR fits into the bigger picture as well as other issues of shared interest in the overall Cherry Creek watershed. This will hopefully keep the CCBWQA on the same page with CRW and PWSD in the future.
Attachments
Attachment A: Letter to CCBWQA Board Members