Eldorado Springs Wastewater System

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

Eldorado Springs is located in the unincorporated portion of Boulder County and includes 90 homes near the mouth of Eldorado Springs Canyon. The housing stock and land use reflect the area’s roots as an early 1900s summer resort. Over time, the resort cottages were converted to year-round homes. The properties had poor or non-existent on-site septic systems that could not be improved or replaced due to the small lots. Eventually, the systems failed and the community was subjected to uncontrolled wastewater discharges impacting ground and well water, as well as South Boulder Creek, a high quality stream that bisect the community. The Boulder County Public Health and Land Use departments, along with the County Attorney’s Office, began educating the community and discussing solutions. A 2004 ballot initiative created a Local Improvement District and authorized debt to fund development of a new community wastewater collection and treatment system. Financing was secured in 2005 and operations commenced in November 2009. The project would face much adversity, including dealing with structures that encroach into the roadways and adjacent properties, collection lines that serve chalets 150 feet above the canyon floor, assessing the cost to just 90 property owners and the endangered Prebles Jumping Mouse that inhabits the site of the treatment plant.