The existing 9 wells were intended to be a temporary solution and are far from ideal in terms of contamination risk, storage capacity, security, and source diversification. The location of the wells in the City and on streets leaves them vulnerable to damage from vehicles, contamination from road pollutants leaking from vehicles, industrial activity or other hazardous materials, as well as vandalism or other security breaches. If just two of the nine wells are disabled due to damage or contamination, the City will face water shortages.  Additionally, emerging contaminants like PFAS require larger equipment and areas to adequately remove these from the public water supply, and the current well houses wouldn’t be adequate for this type of treatment.  Expansion of existing well houses would require building more than 9 water treatment plants, often located in the middle of City streets.  A central location to treat all the water before distribution is critical to maintaining clean and consistent domestic water for the public.

Storage is also a concern. The City currently has the capacity to store about 2 million gallons of drinking water, but the average daily demand is about 1.5 million gallons. This is a pretty tight margin in the event that the existing wells are not functioning for any reason.

Selecting a site for a water treatment facility posed some unique challenges. The following factors were considered for site selection:

• Proximity to the City.
• Location in relation to the hydraulic grade of the sources.
• Land acquisition.
• Proximity to sources (groundwater and surface water).
• Floodplain location, proximity to utilities required to support the treatment facility.
• Layout of the transmission line to pump the treated water to the tanks.
• Room for expansion and additions as the City grows.
• Community acceptance of new facility buildings and ponds.

Several treatment locations were identified in consideration of the criteria. Not all of the sites met all the criteria, but each showed some merit. The following sites were evaluated:

VanTuyl Ranch. Water Storage Tank Site (above Western). Public Works Site. Far North of the City (O'Fallon Treatment Site). Lazy K Property.

Of the sites evaluated, the VanTuyl Ranch was the best fit and met all criteria. The Ranch has multiple surface water and groundwater rights along with storage rights. The Ranch site will allow the city to best utilize and maximize our diverse water rights portfolio. Water source diversification helps remove the risk from one source, or the other being contaminated or unavailable in drought conditions. With a new treatment plant on the Ranch, if the aquifer is contaminated from a spill, then the river water would likely pass that contamination quickly. If there is a fire upstream of the river intake, the groundwater sources would use the natural filtration of the soil and remove most of the silt and debris before the water is treated. The new plant becomes an insurance policy for the community ensuring Gunnison’s residents will have safe and reliable water readily available now and in the future. 

The Ranch is an important part of Gunnison’s history and a cornerstone of the community. Great consideration has been made to preserve the active cattle ranch and its agricultural, recreational, and community open space uses. The City tasked its engineers and architects to provide a unique treatment design that maximizes municipal water quality, diversity and resiliency without impacting any recreational or agricultural uses. Future design will include an advanced water treatment facility, underground infiltration gallery pumping station, and three new high-producing groundwater wells. The building and structures will be designed to match the style and character of the existing ranch headquarters and vistas.  No fences will be installed to preserve the ranch’s aesthetics and natural beauty.  A future reservoir is also being designed to store water for emergency situations and will be available to the public for summer and winter recreation as an added benefit.

The Ranch was purchased by the City as an aquifer recharge and protection area for the City’s domestic water source.  The VanTuyl Management Plan was created in 2010 to establish additional guidance in the protection and management of the Ranch’s natural resources. Recreation is a benefit that many residents enjoy, but it is only one resource that the Ranch provides and protects.  Source water protection of the City’s domestic water supply is also the highest ranked management goal in the VanTuyl Ranch Annexation Petition.

The VanTuyl Ranch Annexation Petition also permits domestic water well fields and water service delivery on the Ranch. 

Additionally, the VanTuyl Ranch Management Plan refers to the City’s well system for the supply of domestic water to its residents and states that “future domestic water supply facilities are also contemplated in this land use plan”.

Water resources are of paramount importance, and the Ranch contains the alluvial aquifer that serves as the City’s domestic water source. The goal of the water treatment plant is to protect and ensure the efficient use of these water resources so that the community can have a reliable, resilient source of drinking water.

The City has received favorable responses from our congressional delegation regarding our requests for federal money to help offset capital costs.  Likewise, the City plans to reach out to the Department of Local Affairs for Tier 1 and Tier 2 grants.  The City has already qualified for a low interest loan through the Colorado State Revolving Loan program.  Loan payments would spread over 20 to 25 years.

• Gunnison Rising's zoning restrictions would require amendments to the PUD to allow building of a treatment plant, or building may not even be allowed, depending on the site within the development. 
• Gunnison Rising has Inferior water rights to that of the Van Tuyl Ranch, which are only available between May and October.  Some of these rights are not available until further development occurs.
• The City does not control the ditch headgates in Gunnison Rising, and water in ditches near Gunnison Rising is surface only. It is turned off during winter to avoid freezing.
• The cost to build a manifold connecting water from town pipeline rights, the north wellfield and the new wellfield at VanTuyl Ranch to a plant at Gunnison Rising would be prohibitive.
• If water is used from the Tomichi River, or wells that take water under direct influence by the Tomichi River, there is potential for a chemical reaction in the existing water pipes. The Tomichi River is a completely different water source than what Gunnison has supplied for 150 years. This is an unknown risk. 
• The City would need to purchase land in Gunnison Rising from a private developer, adding significant cost to the project.
• The fiber network needed to tie existing wells into the system is less available at Gunnison Rising compared to locations near VanTuyl Ranch.
• Gunnison Rising provides no area for sedimentation ponds, nor does it have water surface storage reservoir rights.
• Van Tuyl has two sources of electric power, while there is only one source at Gunnison Rising.
• Gunnison Rising's Sewer Lift Station and the Sewer Force Main do not have the capacity to take on additional backwash from a water treatment plant without major upgrades.  This could cause backups in town and would be an issue when addressing future development within Gunnison Rising.