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Why It’s Important
We need the Southern Delivery System to provide water for our future. Our future depends on it. We can’t maintain our healthy economy and our quality of life without it.
Why is the Southern Delivery System so important? Here are some of the reasons:
| • | Water for the Future – SDS is a cost-effective, dependable and environmentally responsible way to meet our future water needs. SDS uses water rights we already own to provide water for our future. With or without SDS, Colorado Springs and surrounding communities will continue to grow. Half of that growth will come from the children and grandchildren of those of us living here now. Military expansion at Fort Carson and other facilities also accounts for a large portion of the growth we expect. |
| • | Drought Protection – SDS is our water “savings account” for protection against drought. The additional water storage provided by SDS will let us collect more water in wet years to use in dry ones. Instead of saving for a rainy day, we’re saving water during rainy days for long stretches of sunny days. |
| • | Reliability – SDS will ensure uninterrupted water for our homes and businesses. Our water system’s aging. Having another pipeline will help ensure we have enough water when existing pipelines need maintenance or repair. |
| • | Improving Fountain Creek – We’re investing heavily to improve the quality of Fountain Creek. SDS will open the door to even more investment in projects to improve this important waterway. |
| • | Regional Resource Sharing – We’re partnering with Fountain, Security and Pueblo West to build SDS. Fountain and Security will receive water from SDS under any of the scenarios being considered. Pueblo West’s ability to benefit from SDS depends on approval of a pipeline that draws water directly from Pueblo Reservoir through a pipeline beginning at Pueblo Dam. |
| • | Working With Agriculture – SDS uses our existing water rights more efficiently and does not require any new water rights. We regularly work with ranchers and farmers to manage all of our respective water rights to the best mutual benefit. SDS provides a unique opportunity to supplement our water supply in drought cycles with water from farmers and ranchers, who will benefit by maintaining ownership of their water rights while temporarily leasing them to municipalities when conditions are too dry to sustain crops. |
