“But Where Will the Water Come From?”
Every time somebody posts about a new subdivision coming to Johnstown, you can almost set your watch by the comments.
- Traffic.
- Schools.
- Roads.
- And then, usually with enough exclamation points to qualify as a minor weather event:
“BUT WHERE IS ALL THE WATER GOING TO COME FROM?!”
Fair question.
This is Colorado. Water matters.
Actually, that undersells it. Water is one of the defining facts of life around here. Growth, agriculture, cities, reservoirs, ditch companies, snowpack and more than a century of water law all have to work together before somebody turns on the kitchen faucet.
So yes, ask about water.
But asking the question is different from assuming nobody has thought of it.
Because in Johnstown, new development that increases demand on the municipal water system is already required to address that issue.
New Development Has to Bring Water
Johnstown’s Home Rule Charter is pretty direct.
Section 16.4 says that a person or entity seeking an extension of water service, annexation into the Town, or a land-use change that increases water demand must dedicate enough acceptable raw water to cover that increased use.
The Town Council can, for good cause, accept cash instead, but the Charter says the amount must be at least equal to the fair-market value of the required water.
Translated into normal-person English:
You do not show up with plans for 600 houses and tell Johnstown, “Good luck finding water for all these people.”
The development has to account for the water demand it creates.
Johnstown’s own Frequently Asked Questions page says this even more plainly. In discussing potential development north of downtown, the Town explains that the properties already have water rights and that when development begins, those rights will be transferred to the Town.
Then it states the broader practice:
Developers in Johnstown typically buy water shares on the open market and give them to the Town for new development inside town limits.
That does not mean every water question is simple.
It does mean the Facebook panic can probably come down a notch.
It Happens Before the Houses Show Up
Johnstown’s Land Use and Development Code ties water dedication directly to the subdivision process.
For a subdivision or development, there must be an agreement with the Town defining the water and sewer service obligations and the required dedication.
More importantly, for residential development, raw-water dedication and payment of fees are required before the plat is recorded, unless the Town agrees otherwise in writing.
That is a pretty important detail.
The system is not designed for Johnstown to approve a subdivision, let hundreds of families move in and then have somebody at Town Hall suddenly say:
“Hey, did anyone remember the water?”
The water obligation is part of the development process.
Water Rights and Water Infrastructure Are Different Questions
Here is another distinction that gets lost online.
When we say a developer has to “bring the water,” we are talking about the underlying raw-water rights or shares necessary to serve the increased demand.
That is not exactly the same thing as having enough pipes, pumps, treatment capacity and delivery infrastructure to get that water to somebody’s faucet.
Those are legitimate questions too.
And Johnstown is actively investing in that side of the equation.
The Town’s Raw Water Transmission Project calls for approximately 11 miles of new raw-water transmission line to increase the amount of water that can be moved to the treatment plant.
At the same time, Johnstown is expanding its Water Treatment Plant from its existing capacity of 6 million gallons per day to 12 million gallons per day.
The Town says the project is specifically intended to serve current residents while accommodating anticipated population growth.
Those are real growth-management issues.
Can infrastructure keep up?
Is treatment capacity sufficient?
Are projects being phased correctly?
Who pays for improvements?
Are the Town’s fees and development agreements structured well enough that existing residents are not subsidizing future growth?
Ask those questions.
Those are good questions.
But they are different from assuming nobody knows where the water will come from.
Johnstown Even Maintains a Water-Supply Cushion
There is another piece of Johnstown’s water policy that rarely makes it into the Facebook comments.
The Town Charter says Johnstown should endeavor to maintain a water portfolio at least 1.2 times the amount it is committed to supply to existing customers and other obligations.
The Council can temporarily operate below that level under certain circumstances, but the Charter also establishes a minimum floor of 1.1 times committed supply.
That policy is also contained in the Town’s utilities provisions.
In other words, Johnstown’s water policy is not simply:
Acquire exactly enough water for today’s customers and pray nobody gets thirsty tomorrow.
The policy contemplates a reserve above committed demand.
Again, that does not mean water planning becomes automatic or foolproof.
It means there is, in fact, a plan.
Growth Still Has Consequences
None of this means every subdivision is automatically a good idea.
- A developer can bring sufficient water and still propose a lousy project.
- Growth can create traffic problems.
- It can put pressure on roads, schools, police, fire protection and Town services.
- It can change the character of a community.
- It can expose weaknesses in infrastructure planning.
- It can create long-term costs if development agreements and fees are poorly structured.
Those are real concerns.
I have spent enough time around local government to know that the phrase “the developer pays” occasionally deserves a magnifying glass, a calculator and perhaps a reasonably suspicious accountant.
So scrutiny is healthy.
What is not especially helpful is treating every new development proposal as though somebody just discovered Colorado is dry.
Ask Better Questions
Here is the larger point.
Our growth discussions get better when we move beyond the automatic social-media script.
Instead of:
“WHERE WILL THE WATER COME FROM?!”
Try:
- How much water will this development require?
- What water rights are being dedicated?
- Will the Town accept those rights?
- Does Johnstown have enough treatment and delivery capacity?
- What infrastructure improvements will the project require?
- Who pays for them?
- Will existing residents subsidize any part of the new development?
- Does the project leave Johnstown financially stronger over the long haul?
Those are useful questions.
They require facts instead of panic.
And sometimes the answers may lead you to oppose a development.
Sometimes they may lead you to support it.
That is how grown-up local government is supposed to work.
Johnstown is going to grow.
Northern Colorado is going to grow.
We can argue about how fast, where, what kind, and under what conditions. We should.
But the goal ought to be smart growth, not pretending that yelling “water!” on Facebook qualifies as municipal water planning.
Johnstown already requires development that increases demand on its system to provide for the raw water needed to serve that growth.
That does not end the conversation.
It simply means we can start the conversation one step further down the road.
And maybe with about 40 percent fewer exclamation points.
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