HOW IT WOULD WORK

The proposed Wild Horse Reservoir project would be integrated into Aurora Water’s current infrastructure, use existing water rights, and honor existing stream flow agreements.

Current Systems

Aurora Water Supply Map that shows water supplies from Colorado, Arkansas, and South Platte River basins.

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Aurora Water has a variety of water rights in the Colorado, Arkansas, and South Platte River basins. This is typical as Front Range cities, home to about 90 percent of Colorado’s population, import water from the mountains because roughly 80 percent of the state’s water supply originates on the Western Slope.

Aurora’s water from the Colorado and Arkansas River basins—which is about half of Aurora’s water—flows into Twin Lakes south of Leadville. From there, Aurora’s water is pumped over the mountains and through Park County via the Otero pipeline to Spinney Mountain Reservoir. Aurora’s water is stored in Spinney Mountain Reservoir before it is released down the South Platte River and eventually makes its way down to Aurora.

Learn more about Aurora Water’s systems.

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New Storage

Otero pipeline runs from Twin Lakes down to the Otero Pumping Station. The Otero pipeline goes over the Mosquito Range and runs east through Park County. The proposed Wild Horse Reservoir would be connected to the existing Otero pipeline via a new inlet pipeline. The current Spinney tap channel is how the water currently gets to Spinney Mountain Reservoir.

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The Wild Horse Reservoir project would be integrated into Aurora’s existing system as new storage for water before it would go to Spinney Mountain Reservoir. This means no new diversions, just smarter storage and reliability.

To make that work, a new inlet pipeline would connect the proposed Wild Horse Reservoir project to the existing Otero pipeline, and a new outlet pipeline would convey releases to Spinney as needed. From there, water continues down the South Platte River through existing reservoirs (including Eleven Mile Reservoir) before reaching Aurora for treatment and delivery—just as it does today.

Because water would be conveyed to the new reservoir via pipelines, the Wild Horse Reservoir project would be off channel, meaning no dams would block existing rivers or streams and no river or stream would flow into or out of the reservoir.

Existing Water Rights

The proposed Wild Horse Reservoir project would store water Aurora already owns under existing decrees; thus, the project does not require new water rights or additional diversions. Aurora Water does not hold groundwater rights in Park County, so Park County groundwater would not be used to fill the reservoir.

Honor Flow Agreements

Having an additional high-country reservoir would give Aurora more flexibility in its water management at Spinney Mountain Reservoir. Because the Wild Horse Reservoir project would store water from the Colorado and Arkansas River basins, it would allow Aurora Water to better store its available water in wet years from the South Platte River basin, enabling greater flexibility for water releases through Spinney.

Aurora Water will continue to follow all mandated and voluntary operational flow agreements for Spinney Mountain Reservoir as outlined in the 2003 South Platte Protection Plan.