Reclaimed water agreement secured to keep golf course green
Information provided by the Castle Pines North Metropolitan District
The Castle Pines North Metropolitan District (CPNMD) and the Ridge at Castle Pines North golf course have reached a new 20-year water supply agreement.
The new agreement, which was signed by the CPNMD’s board of directors at the May 16 meeting, extends the District’s ability to provide up to 240 acre feet of treated effluent water (reclaimed water from sewer treatment) to irrigate the golf course. The Ridge has irrigated the course this way since it was completed in 1997, governed by an initial 20-year pact.
The CPNMD has the ability to reduce the amount of irrigation in years when drought conditions may affect the overall water supply condition of the District. And under Colorado’s complicated water laws, the District retains rights to the return flows from the golf course. The Ridge will pay $2.66 per 1,000 gallons, a rate based upon the cost of service to provide this type of water.
“We see The Ridge as a valuable asset to our community and a desirable customer,” said District Manager Jim Nikkel. “The water conservation practices they have been developing demonstrate their appreciation of how valuable an asset water is in Colorado and to our District.”
The treated effluent is pumped from the Plum Creek Water Reclamation Authority plant on US 85 to a pond featured on the sixteenth hole of the golf course, which supplies the sprinklers on the golf course.
The Ridge at Castle Pines North golf course is an award-winning public course designed by Tom Weiskopf and is nationally recognized for its roomy fairways, sculpted bunkers and large rolling greens. It is managed by Troon Golf, the largest golf management company in the world, and owned by an Arizona investment group.
