Our Plan
Strategic Risks
Water and fire! The right leadership can mitigate!
All issues
We manage many risks every day. But our region carries two major strategic risks that remain in the public dialog. Water availability and the risk of fire. As County Commissioner, I was able to lobby for $18M successfully for the Pike National Forest to increase their mechanical fire risk mitigation. El Paso County, with my support, has the most stringent water requirements for developers. To get approval, they must purchase 300 years worth of water rights. Colorado Springs has different considerations with its own public utility but also carries both water and fire strategic risks. Colorado Springs also carries a water quality risk.
What we will do
- Fire - Accelerate our mechanical mitigation efforts. Seek more grants to achieve more. And support our partners like the Forest Service to accelerate their mitigation.
- Water - Work with City Council and CSU to develop a more robust way of managing water risk. Past controversial matters to determine a percentage of reserves available became politicized. Developers should adhere to an objective standard, not a standard that might change frequently.