T
he biggest gripe an elected official hears in Colorado Springs is “we are growing too much.” It is no secret that our region’s population is predicted to increase significantly over the next three decades. El Paso County is currently the most populous and fastest growing county in Colorado. There are several reasons why.
Our local economy is healthy. Space Command and Space Force are here to stay and with them, two Air Force bases are greatly expanding and becoming centers for space and satellite infrastructure for the world. They are also attracting lots of associated private contracting firms. The same is true for the microchip manufacturing and cyber security firms locally.
We now have the youngest population in the state, with a high birthrate over deathrate. We specialize in bringing military personnel to our region who are at child-bearing age, plus we are now attracting other Millennials and Gen Zs who want to live here as well. If one simply takes our birthrate over deathrate, our region can grow by 3,000-5,000 people a year.
We also have a growing tourist economy. Our region can attract 20-25 million tourists a year to enjoy our access to the mountains, inexpensive attractions and a cooler climate from where they are visiting from.
Finally, we often brag about national surveys that give us awards for being The Best Place to Live; Hike; Ride a Mountain Bike; Own Dog; or For Veterans to Retire.
Add all the above together, and it’s no wonder that El Paso County is predicted to reach a million and Colorado Springs 750,000 residents by 2050.
Our blessing and curse in Colorado Springs is that we are large geographically – even before the City annexes more land from the County to house new residents in the future because the County doesn’t have the water and other public infrastructure and services to keep allowing for urban level development. But being so spread out makes it difficult and expensive for the City to provide utilities, public safety, parks and roads for new growth as well.
Why is Colorado Springs so big? One reason is that our population prefers houses on large lots. Another is we like to build out and not up to preserve mountain views. And third is a result of having four major military installations in and near the city that require extra land for security, training purposes and flyovers that don’t disturb city residents.
Yes, Colorado Springs could grow denser at its core, but most existing neighborhoods are zoned Single Family Residential only and emphatically don’t want more density.
But the main reason for not growing denser is that the City does not have the road lanes to support new growth in existing neighborhoods. Our road-building budget has been seriously underfunded for decades.
And finally, existing neighborhoods west of 1-25 already have poor and potentially congested evacuation routes in case of a wildfire. Imagine a wildfire near the Broadmoor, where thousands of Broadmoor guests and residents would have to evacuate with other tourists and all the animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on two-laned Lake Avenue and Cresta.
Colorado Springs Utilities does have enough water for our growth. The Southern Delivery System’s eventual buildout will allow CSU to pipe 78 million new gallons of high mountain water a day up to our region – nearly doubling our current use.
But here’s the catch: 75% of CSU’s water comes from trans-mountain diversions from the Colorado River Basin. Not only do the desert cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas depend on the Colorado River for their hundreds of golf courses and tens of thousands of swimming pools, but much of California’s and Mexico’s produce farmers do, too.
Yes, Colorado River water for Colorado Springs will be safe for residential and commercial consumption as a senior Upper Basin user. But we will run out of water if 40% is still used for landscaping, much of which belongs in a wet climate like Kentucky rather than here. And it will not be able to be used in a significant way to replant our urban canopy (we have lost many trees to disease) to keep us cooler as climate change makes us hotter.
A study done in 2015 for the City’s Urban Forestry showed that our urban canopy was only at 19%, much lower than other Front Range Cities. And because of poor past planning, our current built environment is too full of dark, heat absorbing parking lots, rooftops and pavement. That’s why Colorado Springs is 2.5 degrees hotter than other Front Range cities and CSU predicted in 2020 when I was on the utility board that soon there will be 75% saturation of air conditioners in all buildings in their territory. Unfortunately, those air conditioners take a lot of power to run, and they are the kind that pump more hot air into our already hot environment.
So, what are the solutions to stop growth? We could not issue any more building permits in the City, but that will make the City’s housing much more expensive. Or we can drive more growth to the County, where residents will run out of water as they drain the Denver and Dawson aquifers dry. We could have a major recession, so people stop moving here for employment and existing residents have to move away. Or there could be a major wildfire in our mountain backdrop that shuts down tourism. If we were China, there could be mandatory birth control. Or finally, we can try to bump up assisted suicide for our retired population.
In other words, there isn’t much we can do to stop growth. Our best hope is to manage it better.
In future columns for the Pikes Peak Bulletin, I’ll delve into more issues around growth in Colorado Springs and how we can best manage it.