Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Many neighbors and drivers have complained about the negative impacts of a deteriorating drainage channel for years before KRDO 13 began reporting on it in the summer of 2020.
John Bailey’s backyard faces the channel and he reflected on how he has tried to live with it for 33 years.
“There were times that flooding would cover half of my backyard,” he recalled. “The channel itself would look like rapids in a river.”
KRDO 13 reported on how cracked, broken, eroding concrete in the channel — along with flooding debris and trash from homeless camps — clogged the drainage flow and contributed to flooding on nearby streets.
The channel parallels Highway 85/87 and railroad tracks to the west, and Security-Widefield Boulevard to the east; much of the deterioration is south of Fontaine Boulevard at the south end of the community.
There’s now relief at hand for homeowners and businesses along the creek; repairs promised by county officials two years ago, have begun.
KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior visited the site last week and spoke with a worker who said that the project started in November with cutting down trees along the channel.
That pleased Jacqueline Crane, owner of Eden Apothecary & Spa.
“I’m glad. I love it back there. It’s awesome,” she said. “I think now, people can also see our sign from the highway, as well. So, I think it might help us out.”
The Road Warrior spoke with one homeowner who said that he’ll miss the trees.
“They were good windbreaks and they absorbed traffic noise from the highway,” he explained.
Crews are pumping water in the channel through a temporary pipe around the construction area; the water drains into a creek ant the south end of the channel.
The project will gradually install a new concrete liner in the channel.
“We’re in a race to get this done before spring runoff season comes,” the worker told The Road Warrior.
In a summer 2022 story, KRDO spoke with county officials who said that the project would cost between $3.5 million and $5 million.
The channel has a troubled history that hasn’t been entirely resolved.
According to documents in the agreement, the channel — officially called the Security Ditch — dates back to 1961, when Security Water (now Security Sanitation District) acquired an easement for drainage in the area and the easement was transferred to the county in 1972.
At some undetermined date afterward, the concrete-lined channel was built and apparently there are no records to indicate who built it and when; documents show that it’s owned by Fountain Valley Investment Partners, believed to be the original developers of Security-Widefield.
The county and Security Water disagree on the transfer of the original easement; they also disagree on which is responsible for maintaining the channel.
In reaching the agreement, the county assumed no responsibility for future repairs and maintenance; federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act will fund the current project.
It’s unclear how long the project will take to complete, and whether damaged parts of the channel north of Fontaine will also be addressed.
Example photo of snow coming off the peaks close to Red Mountain Pass (Source: CAIC)
Wind slabs (Source: CAIC)
Source: Colorado Secretary of State’s Office