Colorado Springs Utilities scored a victory Friday when the federal government agreed the city’s proposal for piping water from Pueblo Reservoir is the best of seven options. The Bureau of Reclamation’s draft Environmental Impact Statement identified a plan to pipe water from the reservoir along Interstate 25 to the city’s northeast side as the “preferred alternative.” It concluded the city’s Southern Delivery System wouldn’t damage the environment any more than other alternatives but would cost less and require the lowest amount of energy, “resulting in the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of any alternative.” The bureau’s endorsement of the city’s plan suggests Utilities will get the green light for the $1 billion project late this year or in early 2009.

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