B6
Press Release
City Working on Alternatives to Storing Water
in Local Reservoirs
Contact: Steve Barwick, City Manager, 920-5205 or steve.barwick@cityofaspen.com and
Dave Hornbacher, Director of Utilities and Environmental Initiatives, 429-1983 or
david.hornbacher@cityofaspen.com
Aspen, Colorado – December 19, 2016 – Since 1965 the City of Aspen has held
conditional water rights for reservoirs on Maroon and Castle Creeks. Today, the City’s primary
source of stored water is snowpack, which varies significantly year to year. Reservoirs,
however, can store water from season to season and year to year should the City’s water supply
system be insufficient to meet the community’s daily use needs. City Council takes seriously its
obligation and approach to protecting public health and safety and providing essential services
to its residents and customers. The Aspen community will face significant challenges as we see
increased droughts and lower snowfall levels due to climate change. Without water storage,
Aspen’s water availability for households and businesses will be threated and is a risk the City
considers when making long-range plans.
The science confirms that Aspen’s climate is already changing and will continue to do so,” said
Ashley Perl, Climate Action Manager. “Aspen now sees 23 days less of winter than in the years
before 1980. This trend is projected to continue and Aspen’s current water storage – our
snowpack – will diminish.” 
Because of the seriousness of ensuring municipal water availability into the future, City
Council has directed staff to investigate a variety of means for meeting customer demands into
the future.
“City Council has asked if we are confident that we can meet water need scenarios in the
future without these reservoirs. The answer is no. We need to develop reliable alternatives to
reservoirs or we will end up with reservoirs,” said City Manager Steve Barwick.
The City Water Department has been working to compile a preliminary list of potential options
to provide the water supply and storage systems that will protect the City into the future. Some
of the concepts to be included for investigation are:
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Using mine tunnels for underground water storage

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Promote legislative solutions to water rights use limitations (for example allow rights
holders to not use it and not lose it)
Evaluate additional water resources, including wells, mines, other water rights, ditches
and reusing water for potable use
Engage ditch companies and other agriculture owners/operators in exploring the use
of agricultural water to supplement municipal supply
Form collaborative partnerships with trans-basin water diverters to retain additional
West Slope source water
Naturally enrich the watershed to retain water resources longer including
enhancements to landscaping, irrigation efficiencies and in-stream flows

While conservation has long been advocated in Aspen, these new ideas take water supply to a
new level of investigation. For example, Aspen’s underground mine infrastructure is expansive
and researching opportunities for mine tunnels to hold water may be a significant method for
water storage into the future. Equally important is further refining studies on climate change
impacts to local water supply and demand. With this in mind, the City is evaluating a myriad
of portfolio options to meet the community’s daily use demands. Studying these options and
their effectiveness will be part of a project poised to begin in 2017.
With Council’s direction to conduct this study, City staff is now drafting a work program to
present to Council to seek direction on where to focus staff and financial resources. The first
meeting on the subject is anticipated to take place January 31, 2017.
A significant element to the work program will be to engage the public to incorporate
members’ ideas into the list of possible solutions for long-term water storage. The community’s
voice is critical to the success of this project and to that end, included in the work plan will be
public meetings, information outreach efforts, online resources and feedback tools, work
groups and stakeholder sessions.
Throughout this process the first priority of the City is to provide water to the community now
and into the future.

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