WEEK OF DECEMBER 21, 2023
VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
PARENT ENGAGEMENT Douglas County School Board reviews policy P2
RECALL ISSUES The forebay is where water from the Chatfield, South Platte and McLellan reservoirs get pumped into and mix before going to the pretreatment building of the Joseph B Blake Water Treatment Plant of the Centennial Water and Sanitation District. PHOTO BY HALEY LENA
Check pantries for applesauce
P4
County water board hosts first meeting BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Water lawyers, current and former elected officials, and people who serve on the local districts that supply water to many Douglas County homes came together for the first time as a new body that is expected to help shape the future of water supply in a continually growing county. Although the new arm of county government — called the Douglas
County Water Commission — will focus on water issues across the county, several members placed an eye especially on rural areas. “I’m immediately most interested in getting water and having contingency plans for the 20% of the county who is not served by a water district or served by a small one,” Harold Smethills, a member of the new group, said at the Dec. 11 meeting at a county building in Castle Rock.
VOICES: 14 | LIFE: 16 | CALENDAR: 19
Ensuring a lasting water supply wasn’t the only topic on the new group’s minds — so was water safety. The conversation touched on potential threats to health in Douglas County, including the presence of radium, a contaminant linked to the risk of cancer, which has a history in the rural community of Louviers. “How are we going to supply water to the residents that are coming SEE WATER BOARD, P10
BOARD VACANCY
Filling seat left by Peterson P5
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