Wellington water plan gets nod from planning group

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

The Larimer County Planning Commission gave a thumbs-up on July 21 for creation of the Deep Water Metropolitan District north of Wellington.

The vote was 7-1, with Planning Commissioner Jana Hess dissenting. Some neighbors also voiced objections to the plan.

The applicant, Richard Seaworth, must now obtain approval from the county commissioners, the district court and property owners within the district. The Seaworth family owns all property within the proposed district.

Seaworth first proposed the metro district idea in 2006, but the planning staff recommended against the project in its earlier form. He recently developed a revised proposal with the backing of Wellington, which is interested in purchasing emergency water from the district.

"The town is heavily involved in this proposal now," said Larimer County chief planner Russell Legg.

Wellington is interested in having an emergency water supply to protect against drought or the possibility that its primary water source, a reservoir owned by North Poudre Irrigation Co., could become tainted.

If the metro district goes forward, Legg said, an authority will be created to manage business dealings between the metro district and Wellington. Both the metro district board and the authority board would include representatives from the Seaworth family and the town.

Legg noted that the water supply owned by Seaworth is "very unusual." Seaworth is a partner in Wellington Water Works, which takes produced water from the Wellington Oil Field, treats it and then discharges the water into the aquifer.

"This is the first project of its kind," said Seaworth. "We're taking a waste product and turning it into beneficial use. It means we can sell water to a town that needs water, without drying up one acre."

Produced water, which comes up along with the oil, is a liability to an oil company. 3W's water treatment plant has now been operating for four years.

The tentative plan is for Wellington to drill a water well on Seaworth's property. Wellington would purchase the well water as needed and pipe it to the town's treatment plant. Water used from the well would be augmented by the treated oilfield water, so that other water rights would not be harmed, Seaworth said.

Seaworth commented that he is now operating as a private company, and he's happy with that arrangement. He said the town persuaded him to form a metro district because they want more oversight for water transactions.

Wellington town attorney Brad March said that a metro district affords "traditional government protections" such as more accountability and transparency. "This mechanism seems to provide the best protection to the public," he added.

March also said the district would not be allowed to assess taxes.

Wellington has a draft agreement with Seaworth about purchasing water from the metro district, but a final agreement cannot be signed until the district is formed.

JoAnn Blehm, whose family farms near the Seaworth property, said she is against the metro district plan. She also opposed the water court decision that allowed Seaworth to discharge treated oil well water into the aquifer. She claimed that Seaworth is not following the dictates of the water court.

"Seaworth will go back to water court for more wells," Blehm said, "and they will eventually hurt the area's aquifer," injuring other landowners' water rights.

Gail Meisner, another neighbor, questioned the quality of water that leaves the 3W treatment plant.

Seaworth answered that, since the 3W water treatment plant went online, water quality in the area has improved.