History of Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District

The Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District was created under Colorado State Statutes on April 29, 1958, by the District Court of Pueblo, Colorado, for the purpose of developing and administering the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project.  The District extends along the Arkansas River from Buena Vista to Lamar, and along Fountain Creek from Colorado Springs to Pueblo, Colorado. The District consists of parts of nine counties deriving benefits from the Project.

On January 21, 1965 the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation and the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District entered into a contract providing “construction of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project works for the purpose of supplying water for irrigation, municipal, domestic, and industrial uses; generating and transmitting hydro-electric power and energy; controlling floods; and for other useful and beneficial purpose.”

The District is responsible to repay the portion of their construction cost of the Project plus their cost for annual operation and maintenance.  Because the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project provides many benefits to all individuals, the Project is also paid for by the American taxpayer. Funding to fulfill this obligation to the federal government is derived from a property tax on all property within the District boundaries.  Payments total over $4.5 million each year. In addition to administering this repayment responsibility, the District allocates supplemental water from the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project for use by various private and mutual ditch companies, and for use by the many municipal and domestic water suppliers who directly serve the District's approximately 720,000 constituents.

SECWCD Boundaries Map

SECWCD Mission/Vision