The Ray D. Nixon Power Plant and Clear Spring Ranch facility are the subject of a state enforcement order that says Colorado Springs Utilities has missed a deadline for installing treatment necessary for safe drinking water.

Colorado Springs Utilities, which was fined just over $1,000 by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, was expecting the penalty and says it has taken steps to protect those affected.

“We were aware that this would result in an enforcement action and notified our employees on site in advance,” wrote Utilities spokesperson Jennifer Jordan in a statement.

In the Nov. 10 enforcement order, CDPHE wrote that Utilities had failed to update the treatment of groundwater from wells that serve the Nixon Power Plant, Front Range Power Plant and the Clear Spring Ranch Recovery Facility.

According to the report, the well water is accessible as drinking water to 124 people daily at the facilities while also being used for industrial cooling operations.

In 2024, the water was reclassified as groundwater under the direct influence of surface water, a designation that requires surface water filtration as well as disinfection. Jordan confirmed the surface water source was the nearby Fountain Creek.

According to CDPHE, treatment of surface water is necessary to avoid health concerns from “disease-causing organisms.”

“These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches,” reads Regulation 11 of the Surface Water Treatment Rule quoted in the report.

CDPHE gave Utilities a deadline of Aug. 1 to fix the issue, but Utilities has said it needs more time to come up with a solution. The furthest estimated date for a fix is in 2035.

In the meantime, Jordan says the industrial complex has provided bottled water to workers long before the water system was reclassified.

“While the drinking water has always met Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, it is sourced differently than the water we provide our customers and has a stronger mineral taste, which is not preferred by some employees,” she wrote.

The solutions Utilities gave the state included installing a centralized water treatment facility, putting treatment at each of the 19 potable water locations, connecting to an alternate water source or a combination of those options.

The long timeline for getting it done, Jordan said, came down to “necessary approvals that would need to be obtained from other agencies.”

“Because we want to implement a cost-effective, long-term solution to provide water filtration at this site, we are taking additional time to evaluate different options,” Jordan wrote.

She said Utilities planned to submit quarterly reports and meet the state’s June 2026 deadline for a corrective action plan.

Jordan said the Nixon plant was not connected to the rest of the Utilities water system, which is not subject to the enforcement order.

“The drinking water we deliver to our customers is sourced from surface water sources and treated at one of our six water treatment facilities using standard treatment processes,” she said.