The Southern Delivery System (SDS) is a regional project to bring water from the Arkansas River to Colorado Springs, Fountain and Security and Pueblo West. Pueblo West would participate if we construct the Preferred Alternative – a pipeline that draws water directly from Pueblo Reservoir through a pipeline beginning at Pueblo Dam. We own the rights to the water. SDS is needed to make it available for us to use.

Our preferred alternative is estimated to cost about $1.1 billion to construct. This alternative costs less to build and operate than any of the other alternatives evaluated. Water users in Colorado Springs, Security, Fountain and Pueblo West who benefit from SDS will pay for it.

As proposed, SDS will use water stored in Pueblo Reservoir. The reservoir is part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which means the Bureau was required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) assessing the environmental impacts of SDS. The Bureau of Reclamation completed its review of the project with the issuance of a Record of Decision in March 2009.