2018 a year in review

January began very mild with very little snow. Pikes Peak showed bare most of the month. Upper canal work began replacing cement lining that over time, slipped, cracked or broken beyond repair. The project is funded with Grant monies we received from CWCB. The main purpose is to increase water retention to Brush Hollow.

February work continued on the upper ditch relining project. The annual shareholders meeting was a great success with 66% of the shareholders represented either in person or though proxy. Jack Tyler was re-elected to the Board for another 3 years. The shareholders voted to pay off BPW debts with CWCB using part of the 2.6 million currently in CD’s with Edward Jones. Additionally they voted favorably to move forward on the new proposed contract with Penrose Water District for years of 2021-2025. The shareholders also approved to continue the $13.00 surcharge as part of the assessments for capital improvements. Total annual assessments with continue to be $78.00 per share.

Ballot item #2 proposed changes to the Articles of Incorporation and By-laws were accepted with a vote of 2196 voting yes to 29 voting no. It was discussed that our area is currently under drought conditions with little snow and unless something changes, irrigations would be limited this year.

March did provide us with some snow and rain; however the wind helped dry up what little moisture we did receive. The upper ditch relining was completed and the staff worked many hours cleaning canals and fixing lines and boxes needing repair. Brush Hollow’s level at 90ft gave us promise to begin irrigations in April. Due to an injury, we looked for a temporary ditch rider to fill in when irrigation begins.

April the staff completed cleaning and began running irrigations on the 16^th. Unfortunately the wind played a mean trick and filled the canals with dirt and debris clogging up the entire system. After hours of cleaning screens constantly it was decided to shut the water off due to flooding the clogs were causing. It took several days to clean and haul off debris however irrigation did start up again on the 23^rd. Penrose did actually receive some snow and rain, enough to visually see fields green up.

May was the beginning of what the drought had brought to our area. Typically we are experiencing snow melt down the creek; however the creek was running low. Running irrigation with less water meant less lines running and this extended normal irrigation times significantly. The only saving grace was that Brush Hollow was full when we started.

June the struggle continued with very little water coming down the creek. It was determined that each shareholder would only receive one irrigation as we had to keep Brush Hollow no lower than 70 feet to meet our obligations with Penrose Water district and the fish habitat. Providing irrigators on the upper ditch was a challenge with very little water coming down. Not only are we in a drought; it was so dry our area was put under stage 2 fire restrictions.  

July brought us extreme heat with clear and dry skies. Temperatures were in the high 90’s. We had to discontinue irrigations as the creek ran dry for almost 3 weeks. No water was reaching our diversion. The middle of the month water finally began to flow again. This enabled us to fill the diversion and finish irrigations. Our temporary ditch rider became a regular ditch rider as Larry Feyerherm’s last day was the end of June.

August finally provided the area with some well needed precipitation. Temperatures were still in the upper 80’s and 90’s. The creek was running enough water down it to provide Penrose Water District and pass down to Brush Hollow. We still do not have enough water to begin second irrigations. Ditch Rider Charlie Avila resigned to begin a job in Colorado Springs. We will not fill the position until the beginning of next year as irrigations are not running.

September was very warm and very little precipitation was received. Brush Hollow has only risen 3 feet in the past 2 months with the small amount of water we have received down the creek. Steve Kastner, our engineer was successful in applying for additional Grant monies to continue our relining the upper ditch. This provided us with an additional $80,000 of Grant money for phase 2.

October our area finally received some snow and rain that equaled almost an inch of precipitation. Temperatures did drop enough to freeze the apple crops that shortened the growing season. We continue to receive enough water to pass to Brush Hollow which will help us in the spring.

November provided us winter temperatures with little moisture. The staff continued to work on repair projects. They replaced a line on the West side that has been a problem for at least 2 years.

December has continued with winter day time temperatures in the 40’s-high 50’s and nights as low as 7 degrees. However we have received no precipitation. We probably will not have a white Christmas here in Penrose. The weather patterns show possibly some chance of snow after Christmas. The upper ditch relining project is up and running again with the temperatures delaying the delivery of cement. We are hopeful to finish as soon as possible as we were unable to capture the water as we did last year. We are actively seeking a ditch rider position to be filled. Resumes are being accepted in the office. Interviews will begin after the first of the New Year. The Board of Directors and the staff wishes everyone a safe holiday season.      Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.