WHY WILD HORSE RESERVOIR
Aurora Water is a national leader in water conservation and reuse; however, these initiatives alone cannot sustain our emergency water reserves in the long term. Without more water storage, Aurora Water would begin dipping into our emergency water reserves by the year 2045.
The proposed Wild Horse Reservoir project would provide the critical water storage that Aurora Water requires to ensure reliable water supply for community needs and maintain emergency water reserves during severe and prolonged drought or system emergencies.
Droughts, wildfires, an evolving climate, and potential system outages present serious risks to Aurora’s water supply. In the semi-arid west, water reservoirs serve as vital water savings accounts to ensure sustainable and drought-resistant municipal water supplies. The proposed Wild Horse Reservoir project would act as a water savings account by storing extra water in wetter years so that we have enough water in drier years. As drier years become more common, water storage becomes more critical to a sustainable water supply.
In addition, because Aurora is using less water today than in 2000, we need somewhere to store some of the water that we are saving. The Wild Horse Reservoir project would allow Aurora Water to better manage its existing water operations by helping store some the water saved from our nation-leading conservation and reuse efforts.
Reservoirs also help water utilities better manage the difference between when the water can be collected and when it is needed. Water yields—that is, when the mountain snow melts and enters the rivers—typically occur between May and July. However, most of the community needs are from May to October. Having adequate water storage is critical for ensuring a reliable water supply when the water is most needed.
With increasing community needs, Aurora Water needs to expand its emergency water reserves in case of a drought or system emergency. To ensure that these emergency reserves are accessible, Aurora Water’s emergency reserve must be in the South Platte River basin. The proposed location for the Wild Horse Reservoir project in the South Platte River basin ensures that Aurora Water would have access to its emergency water reserves.
The Colorado Water Plan projected a statewide water supply gap by 2050 and prioritizes attaining additional water storage. The proposed Wild Horse Reservoir project is among the projects under consideration to address this gap as a key component of Aurora’s 2022 Integrated Water Master Plan Update.
