Cherokee Metropolitan District working to keep water on tap

Few people in El Paso County have had to weather the shower of public scrutiny that has rained down upon the Cherokee Metropolitan District since 2002.

The news might be improving though, as water conservation measures, home-owner education and well acquisitions quench the district's thirst for water to support development.

Such measures will be important. The CMD serves 18,000 customers and is expected to add as many as 9,000 water consumers during the coming years.

Those likely to benefit from steps the district is taking to solve its water issues are the residents, as well as its home builders and developers, all of whom have faced legal reversals, a slow real estate market and nervous buyers.

About 100-square-miles in size, the district's boundaries extend east of Powers Boulevard, north of Platte Avenue and Peterson Air Force Base, west of Highway 24 and Marksheffel Road and south of Barnes Road.

Cimarron Hills and Claremont Ranch are both CMD communities.

Heath Herber, president of Westerra Development, and 30-year CMD resident Mary Hernandez both say that they have been won over by the commitment and knowledge that district General Manager Kip Petersen and the district's law firm, Felt, Munson and Culichia, have demonstrated.

"They're not only securing sustainable new water sources, they're educating residents on water conservation and xeriscaping," Hernandez said. "That's what we really need."

Lawsuit leads to progress

The worst single day during the district's 20-year history might have been March 17, 2006, when the Colorado Water Court ruled that the water and sewer service provider had to stop pumping from the Upper Black Squirrel Basin.

Herber clearly recalls his appearance before the El Paso County Board of Commissioners on March 23. He was ready to present a routine request for approval of 37 lots at the Ranch at Whispering Springs when then-County Attorney Bill Louis advised him not to proceed.

"He told me I could either withdraw my request or expect to be denied," Herber said, based on Cherokee losing access to water from the Black Squirrel just two days earlier.

The developer, who had received approval for eight prior filings in the CMD, was caught off guard. Because of the water court's ruling, Cherokee had lost access to nearly 40 percent of the water. Not only was Herber's project delayed for several months, but the district faced a week-long watering ban, followed by ongoing two- day-a-week watering restrictions.

The developer contacted his builders, Campbell and Hallmark Homes, to adjust landscaping and watering guidelines for new home buyers.

During the year that followed, home builders, residents, brokers and lenders adjusted to the district's strict seasonal watering guidelines and focused on conservation, but the ride hasn't always been a smooth one.

A number of homeowners balked at the district's mandate, that beginning July 1, 2006, each new home would be allowed a maximum of 1,500 square feet of sod, rather than the 2,500 square feet originally approved by district and county officials.

Chris Casey, a sales broker for Campbell Homes said some people who had purchased their homes in the spring and were ready to move in during mid-summer were upset to learn that their sod allotment had been reduced.

Residents were asked to substitute low water vegetation, mulch and rock.

"You couldn't blame them, but as the builder, we were caught in the middle," he said, adding that even today some model home visitors who learn that the company's Pronghorn Meadows models are in the Cherokee Metropolitan District will simply leave.

"A lot of people who come from other parts of the country -- especially from the southwest where it's very dry -- understand," he said. "But some locals won't stay to find out how things are improving."

Building community

Randy Deming, chief executive officer of Campbell Homes, sees affordability as one a strong motivator to continue building in the Jessica and Pronghorn Meadows subdivisions developed by Westerra.

"You'd pay $25,000 to $40,000 per lot more to go further north to Cordera or Wolf Ranch," he said, noting that his company expects to build a total of 154 homes within the two communities.

But an even stronger reason for moving ahead, he said, are the aggressive steps Cherokee has taken to require developers to secure adequate water to their developments. At least three local companies, Westerra, The Equity Group and Hammers Construction, have agreed to purchase an additional $2.3 million in "wet water" that can be pumped into the district to support development.

Peterson described "wet water" as physical water, rather than simply water rights.

All future developers will face the same requirements.

"We realized that in order to protect our investment, we had to do something," Herber said. "The crisis was temporary. In two years or less, Cherokee expects to have its new water recharge plant up and running. That will allow them to recycle water rather than lose it into Fountain Creek."

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