Ouray Hot Springs Grant?

November 28, 2008

Posted by:

Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com

Written By: Samantha Tisdel Wright

The natural hot springs that bubble to the surface along the Uncompahgre River and Canyon Creek near Ouray are good for more than skinny-dipping.

Ouray Mayor Bob Risch and others involved in a geothermal inventory currently underway envision a day when that free energy can be put to use as a small-scale energy source for the municipality.

A $25,000 grant, awarded to the city by the Governor's Energy Office (GEO) on Oct. 2, is funding the effort to chronicle the many springs that surface within city limits.

"We recognize that we are exceptionally fortunate in our available geothermal and hydroelectric resources and have a responsibility to utilize these assets in the most efficient ways possible," wrote Risch in the grant request. "Our primary interest at this stage in the exploration of our geothermal resources is the complete inventorying of our springs in terms of energy content, options for cost-effective utilization, and legal ownership history and status."

Nobody knows Ouray's hot springs better than hydrologist and geothermal consultant Wayne Goin, who for years has worked for Linda Wright-Minter monitoring the hot springs which feed her Wiesbaden enterprise, and is now consulting with the city in its geothermal surveying efforts. His methodology is pretty simple – put on a pair of sneakers and wade up the river until you feel it getting warmer.

That's how he found "The Minions," a group of hot springs that surfaces along Canyon Creek, for which he filed rights on behalf of Wright-Minter years ago.

The Minions now belong to the city, which got them in a settlement with Wright-Minter following an ugly legal battle stemming from an extensive effort some 20 years ago to drill for and exploit additional sources of hot water in Ouray in the 1980s. The city is still paying off debt servicing for the $550,000 settlement. The lawsuit also had statewide ramifications in the form of Geothermal Rules adopted by the state in the 1980s, followed by strict new requirements for well drilling by the state's Division of Water Resources in 2004.

This time around, a more cautious approach is being taken, by all who are involved. First and foremost, drilling is out of the equation.

"Our approach to the inventorying process is non-invasive," Goin stressed. "We're simply trying to get a snapshot in time of what's going on with the geothermal resources.... It's kind of the hobo approach."

Which basically means, wade up into the canyon, GPS the known springs and take their temperature, measure their outflow, and maybe find some new ones in the process. From the Minions to the fish pond, a lot of geothermal energy is currently going to waste.

Winter is an ideal time to conduct this kind of work, Goin explained, because both the level of groundwater and the river are at their lowest levels of the year. In spring and summer, many of the hot springs which surface along Canyon Creek are obscured by spring run-off.

A report from the city to the GEO regarding the endeavor is due by mid-May, and may be followed by a county-wide hot-springs inventory. The immediate goal is to have monitoring of all known hot springs in place by the end of the year, Risch said.

A logical succeeding step outlined in the GEO grant will be the preparation of a plan to update the heating plants of appropriate public buildings and facilities in Ouray. As stated in the grant request, "The second phase will involve the identification of appropriate projects and requisite funding perhaps including carbon-offset sources, to begin replacing fossil fuel space heating plants with geothermal options."

The Colorado Geothermal Development Strategic Plan has identified Ouray County as one of several areas in the state with the potential to develop geothermal energy. The new energy standard spelled out by Gov. Bill Ritter mandates that 20% of all energy produced in Colo. must be renewable by the year 2020. Toward that end, the GEO is currently supporting efforts to inventory the state's considerable geothermal resources.

The Bureau of Land Management, too, has launched ambitious plans to assess the geothermal potential.

Electricity generation is beyond the scope of what the city is trying to do with its current inventorying project, but Risch, who has made energy efficiency the cornerstone of his mayoral role since he took office nearly a year ago, wouldn't mind harnessing some of the tail-water and overflow that currently goes to waste, and using it to heat a municipal building or two.

As he prepared to pull on some waders and head up into Canyon Creek with Goin earlier this week, the mayor paused, grinning. "Every day is another revelation."