January 8, 2008--Getting water to remote development is uphill battle (Telluride Daily Planet)
The ridge-top Hideout Lake development has plans for 374 residential units and an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course, thus adding heat to the debate over Dave Wood Road, a route that follows the path of the famed freight hauler whose name it bears. The upgrading of the Dave Wood Road would make access to and from Telluride possible year round, a prospect that excites some and fills others with alarm. Hideout Lake, though, is landlocked. Paxton Reservoir, the body of water around which the development is situated, has a water decree for 717 acre feet. However, municipal water and sewer are not available in the remote location. At buildout, approximately 750 acres and 280 of the development’s homes will be located in Montrose County, with 450 acres and 106 homes in Ouray County. Hideout Lake has also announced plans for a wastewater treatment facility and a water storage tank with the capacity to hold 950,000 gallons. However, until the issues regarding water are resolved, the plans will remain just that. In an August interview with the Daily Planet, Division Engineer Wayne Schieldt of the Colorado Division of Water Resources summed up the real issue facing Hideout Ranch. “A lot of us have felt from the start that there is not enough water to run a development this big,” Schieldt said.
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