Planning and design work could begin sometime next year on a project in El Paso County, Colorado, that will see the building of a big loop piping system moving water from the southern part of the county to its northern reaches.
What is simply being called the Loop Project is seen by county officials as a necessary response to continued population growth, particularly beyond the metro Colorado Springs area.
The growth has seen the county go from just under 517,000 residents in the year 2000 to more than 730,000 today.
It is thought that it could cost as much as $200 million to build the system, which would also allow for water in the Monument and Fountain Creeks to be treated, recycled, and reused.
But now up to $4 million in federal grant money has been secured by the county via the American Rescue Plan Act to jumpstart engineering on the project. County officials say the funding will also be used to purchase easements for where the Loop Project’s infrastructure will ultimately be built.
If all the preliminaries are completed as planned, actual work on the project could begin in late 2024 or early 2025.
The American Rescue Plan Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in early 2021, designed to help the economic recovery of local governments challenged by the Covid 19 pandemic.
By Garry Boulard
