On March 8, the City of Gunnison received $1.75 million in congressional dollars for its water system upgrades from U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper and Rep. Lauren Boebert. The money will cover most of “project 1,” which includes the design and construction of an infiltration gallery.
This perforated pipe acts like a shallow, horizontal water well. A large boring machine is often used to feed thousands of feet of piping into a cavity underground, similar to an electric conduit, and then backfill the area with gravel. The gravel filters the water before it enters the pipe and is eventually pumped to a plant for treatment.
The total price tag of the city’s water system improvements, split into five separate projects, is estimated at nearly $80 million. Project 1 focuses on the collection of “raw” or untreated water; project 2 is the complex system of pipes that will move water to a treatment plant; and project three is the new plant itself. Projects 4 and 5 include additional water storage and a possible reservoir at the city-owned VanTuyl Ranch — the chosen site for the majority of the projects.
What the city cannot cover with outside dollars will eventually be passed on to Gunnison’s relatively small utility customer base as rate increases. To relieve some of the pressure, the city has been “aggressively” pursuing grants to knock down the cost, said City Manager Amanda Wilson.
“Without that funding, coming up with the matching requirements associated with other grants that are in the pipeline was proving to be very difficult,” Wilson said during a city council meeting on March 12. “This is a huge relief.”
The city pulls its drinking water from nine wells scattered throughout the city. The system is outdated and no longer permitted by the state. Because all of the wells pull water from the same aquifer, it's also vulnerable to contamination and periods of prolonged drought.
Project 1 will increase the number of ways the city can collect untreated water for its drinking water supply. After it’s complete, the city will have the ability to pull from the underground water table using the infiltration gallery and directly from the Gunnison River, in addition to the aquifer. The infiltration gallery is designed to capture the water table that flows underground, and is much shallower than the main aquifer.
The city contracted with JVA Engineers for project 1 at the end of 2022, but did not have enough money to begin design work. But the congressional earmark, alongside grants from the Colorado River Water Conservation District, Colorado Water Conservation Board and Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, will cover the majority of project 1. The city will pitch in another $187,000 from its water fund to complete the $330,000 design this year.
The infiltration gallery will be placed on the southern end of VanTuyl Ranch, away from the existing trail system. A visible pump station will eventually move the water to the new treatment plant. The city also plans to drill three new wells on the property during this phase of the project.
Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment requires the city to prove that its project will not negatively affect the existing private wells and water rights of adjacent property owners. The Public Works Department shared its preliminary design report with the state last year.
“We have done engineering analysis to show that's not the case,” Wilson told the Times.
The city is working to obtain an easement from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to build a river diversion on the agency’s property. A portion of the VanTuyl property near the Gunnison River is a state wildlife area and is managed by CPW. The easement should be finalized by April.
Water quality testing will continue at VanTuyl this spring. Construction on project 1 is not expected to begin until the spring of 2025. The city will focus on projects 1 through 3 in the coming years.
(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)
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