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OCN > 2603 > Donala Water and Sanitation District, Feb. 19 – Board considers fire mitigation at Willow Creek Ranch

Donala Water and Sanitation District, Feb. 19 – Board considers fire mitigation at Willow Creek Ranch

Highlights

  • The DWSD board heard a fire mitigation proposal for Willow Creek Ranch from the Arkansas River Watershed Collaborative, including a plan to add 140 acres to an ongoing project and share the costs, with a target completion around 2026.
  • ARWC officials cited mountain pine beetles, dwarf mistletoe, drought, and tight tree spacing as driving factors increasing fire risk, recommending patch cuts to thin stands and break up fuel continuity.
  • The board approved a lease to allow 12 acre-feet of UMCRWWTF effluent to be used for evaporative depletion replacement, at $150 per acre-foot, with Robison covering legal and conveyance costs.
  • DWSD confirmed El Paso County will cover about $475,000 of Well 7 redrilling costs using ARPA funds earmarked for radium removal, and the board accepted the related procurement memo.
  • Financials for January 2026 were reported as on track, with the Holbein Water Treatment Plant back online after cleaning and the R. Hull Plant slated for cleaning soon; a water line leak occurred during fiber optic work.
  • The meeting concluded with an executive session to discuss legal matters related to the UMCRWWTF agreement and a personnel issue, with no actions taken.

By James Howald and Jackie Burhans

The Donala Water and Sanitation District (DWSD) board met in February to hear a presentation about fire mitigation at its Willow Creek Ranch property from the Arkansas River Watershed Collaborative (ARWC). It considered a request to lease effluent from the Upper Monument Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (UMCRWWTF), and Acting General Manager Christina Hawker gave an update on her effort to recover some of the cost of the Well 7 redrilling from El Paso County. The board also heard financial and operational reports. The meeting ended with an executive session.

Mountain pine beetle, dwarf mistletoe threaten ranch

In 2008, DWSD purchased the Willow Creek Ranch, a 711-acre property near Leadville, for its renewable water rights. DWSD’s Willow Creek Ranch water is treated and delivered to district customers by Colorado Springs Utilities. DWSD’s goal is to preserve the ranch in pristine condition and reduce the risk of fire to preserve its water resource.

At its February meeting, Jonathan Paklaian, executive director of ARWC, and Mike Rung, a forester with ARWC, presented their proposals on mitigating the risk of fire on the ranch.

Paklaian said the ARWC is a nonprofit organization with access to funding through its partnerships with other organizations, and it works with many water utilities on fire mitigation. ARWC has a large project underway in Lake County, and Paklaian proposed that 140 acres of Willow Creek Ranch be added to the project. ARWC offered to split the cost of mitigating a portion of the ranch with DWSD.

Rung said he found mountain pine beetles during his inspection of the ranch. The beetles bore into pine trees, lay eggs, and then emerge and girdle the vascular system of the tree, killing it. Ponderosa, lodgepole, and limber pines are vulnerable. Tightly spaced trees are an ideal habitat for beetles, and dead trees increase fire risk, Rung said. Drought is also a factor, as it reduces the tree’s ability to make protective sap.

Dwarf mistletoe is present in every stand of trees on the ranch, Rung said. A parasitic plant, dwarf mistletoe propagates by shooting sticky seeds up to 50 feet into the branches of nearby trees. It can kill trees in just seven years.

Breaking up stands of trees helps reduce the spread of beetles and mistletoe. The combination of beetles, mistletoe, and drought is the “perfect storm to cause widespread mortality,” according to Rung. He recommended patch cuts, which remove all trees in 1-to 5-acre swaths, separating tree stands, and thinning 20% to 40% of the trees within stands.

Rung noted the presence of cultural resources on the ranch, such as a cabin foundation and abandoned charcoal kilns. He said those would be preserved.

Rung estimated fire mitigation could be done on 140 acres for $2,000 per acre by July or September of 2026. Paklaian put the price tag for the entire project at $300,000 and offered to pay half. He asked for an informal commitment from the DWSD board. The board agreed and asked Hawker to clarify the costs and draft a letter of intent. Vanderschuere said, “We’ve been watching this and knew it was coming. Denial is stupidity.”

Request to lease effluent approved

Hawker told the board she had received a request from Letha Robison to lease 12 acre-feet of effluent from the UMCRWWTF to replace evaporative depletion from two ponds, for a cost of $150 per acre-foot, which is twice what DWSD receives for effluent it leases to the Arkansas Groundwater and Reservoir Association. Robison will pay all legal fees and will be responsible for conveying the effluent from the treatment plant to her ponds. The board voted unanimously to approve the lease request.

Well 7 redrilling costs

In January, Hawker told the board that El Paso County had agreed to pay about $475,000 of the cost of redrilling Well 7, using funds the county received from the American Recovery Plan Act earmarked for radium removal. At the meeting in February, she presented a memo she had written to El Paso County Financial Services documenting that DWSD had followed its emergency procurement process when redrilling the well. The board voted to approve the memo as presented.

Financial and operational reports

Hawker told the board that revenues and expenses for the first month of 2026 were as expected and the board voted to approve her financial report.

Superintendent of Water Operations Ronny Wright said the Holbein Water Treatment Plant was back in service after being taken offline for cleaning, and the R. Hull Water Treatment Plant would be out of service for cleaning in the next couple of weeks. He noted crews installing fiber optic cable had caused a water leak by drilling into a water line on Gleneagle Drive.

Waste Plant Maintenance Technician Jarred Durham reported the district had treated 24.6 million gallons of wastewater in January, with all parameters within limits.

Executive session

The meeting ended with an executive session to confer with legal counsel regarding the district’s Intragovernmental Agreement for the UMCRWWTF and a personnel issue. No actions were taken following the executive session.

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The next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 19 at 1:30 p.m. Generally, board meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 1:30 p.m. and include online access; call (719) 488-3603 or access www.donalawater.org to receive up-to-date meeting information. The district office is located at 15850 Holbein Drive, Colorado Springs.

James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me. Jackie Burhans can be reached at jackieburhans@ocn.me.

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