Colorado Springs’ water system is following in the footsteps of the troubled wastewater system, and the cost to fix the problems might be equally high.News this week that the water division of Colorado Springs Utilities is facing a $33 million shortfall because of declining usage and a slumping housing market are only part of the story.Water officials reported that more than half the pipes that carry water to customers are made of iron, some 100 years old. Leaks and breaks are on the rise, driving up maintenance costs and requiring replacement.Service lines that run from mains to customer lines, too, are showing age. The cost to repair them has gone up by 23 percent since 2005.In addition, fire hydrants need attention. Since 2005, those replaced have more than tripled to 611 and more need to be upgraded.Fixing the problems will cost $60 million in the next 10 years. That’s on top of $36 million needed to improve the city’s water treatment plants and holding tanks in the next five years and $65 million in the next decade to upgrade reservoirs, pipes and pumps that deliver water from the mountains.The total: $161 million.”Water is sort of in the same shape wastewater was in 2000,” Utilities CEO Jerry Forte said.The wastewater system’s spills were so numerous and large they drew historic fines from state regulators and triggered a 20-year, $250-million, improvement program.If water follows wastewater’s lead, rates will go up sharply. Wastewater rates climbed each year from 2004 to 2008, with residential rates increasing by 122 percent.No one knows how much water rates will go up to deal with the aging system and to close the gap created by lower customer usage and fewer new customers.But rates are expected to rise by 126 percent by 2015, due largely to the Southern Delivery System, the $1 billion pipeline project from Pueblo Reservoir slated to begin construction next year. It’s unclear how much of the work needed on the existing system is figured into that rate plan, but none of the shortfall is included – yet.The overview of the city’s water system is the first comprehensive look at the system in recent memory, if ever.After hearing the final report Wednesday, Mayor Lionel Rivera said, “Those are big numbers when you add them all together. I assume you’re doing the analysis on bonding and how to pay for it all.”Bruce McCormick, chief water officer, said Colorado Springs isn’t alone in dealing with aging pipes. “This is a nationwide issue,” he said.He said the needed improvements will place “lots of pressure” on rates, which today are third lowest among major Colorado cities.As for this year’s budget shortfall, some council members expressed concern Utilities failed to foresee the drop in housing starts, which accounts for $23.5 million of the $33 million shortfall.New construction hookups in past years have comprised 28 percent of water revenues but this year represent only 10 percent. The money comes from charges to hook up to the city’s system, which vary from $5,400 for a home to $450,000 for a six-inch line for residential or non-residential use.Utilities only recently revised its prediction from 2,100 single-family equivalent hookups this year to 1,700.Pikes Peak Regional Building adjusted its budget and forecast months ago, Regional Building Board member Vice Mayor Larry Small said.Jan Martin noted that even as the council gave final approval to the 2007 budget in December, Utilities officials apparently already knew the assumptions were wrong.Utilities staff drafted usage forecasts in late February and early March for the following year’s budget. Those numbers were used by each division – water, wastewater, electric and gas – to draw up their budgets. Those plans were submitted to top management for approval in late summer and to the council in October.That meant by the time the 2008 budget took effect on January 1, the forecast upon which it was based was 10 months old.Under the new plan, forecasts will be done in April and May for the following year, allowing Utilities to include the entire first quarter in the forecast.”That’s why we proposed the change to City Council, so we can more quickly respond to those changes in the marketplace,” said Amy Cordova, supervisor of sales and load forecasting.In addition, staff will pay closer attention to monthly forecasts, Cordova said, based on the previous month’s sales.Utilities staff said in a memo they’ll seek council approval of a water rate increase in July. Forte said in a letter to staff he recommends the hike be effective in August.CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com

Colorado Department of Wildlife technician Zach Holme watched a herd of bighorn sheep near Colorado Springs on Tuesday. Holme is part of a team that tracks a local herd, records behavior and counts deaths. Photo by (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)