The essential services of sewer, waste collection, potable water
and irrigation water are critical components of the health, welfare,
and safety of the Pear Park neighborhood.
(Res. 13-05, 1-5-05)
Clifton Water District and Ute Water Conservancy District provide
domestic water service to residents of the planning area. Typically,
customer demand is from 100 to 120 gallons per day per person. There
are also several residences using wells for domestic water supply.
Clifton Water provides service to residents of the area living east
of 30 Road. The water supply comes entirely from the Colorado River
and the treatment facility is located just east of the Pear Park area.
The water delivery system is principally gravity fed with an occasional
pump or booster station.
Ute Water serves the area west of 30 Road. The water supply
comes from snowmelt on the Grand Mesa which is stored and diverted
through a series of reservoirs, ditches and pipes. The treatment facility
is located on Rapid Creek. The water delivery system is principally
gravity fed. Water delivery within the Pear Park area is predominately
made through an 18-inch water line which is fed by a 24-inch main
located to the south of Pear Park.
Issues facing both Clifton Water and Ute Water are line sizes.
The current policy of both districts is to upgrade as development
occurs with the upgrades primarily paid for by the developer. Both
water providers have adequate capacity to serve the planning area
as it develops to its build-out potential.
Because of the Grand Junction area’s desert environment,
xeriscaping and the use of xeric (low water use) plants works very
well. The table to the right lists seven things that can be done to
obtain good xeric design.
(Res. 13-05, 1-5-05)
Historically, irrigation delivery systems were designed for
farming. Today, those systems are largely incompatible with residential
subdivision development, creating problems for end user delivery and
tail water drainage. Irrigation water is supplied to many residents
living in the Pear Park neighborhood through a series of ditches,
laterals and drains that are part of the Grand Valley Irrigation Company
system. Water is diverted from the Colorado River at Palisade. The
irrigation company’s mainline delivery lateral for Pear Park
runs along E Road. A small (northeast corner) part of Pear Park is
served by the Palisade Irrigation District on the north side of the
Grand Valley Canal.
Grand Valley Irrigation Company is a private non-profit supplier
of irrigation water; however, the responsibility for the operation
and maintenance of all lateral ditches or pipelines belongs to the
individual water user. This also applies to the ditches and pipelines
that carry water away from each property until that “waste irrigation
water,” or tail water, is returned to the Colorado River or
a natural drainageway such as Lewis Wash. Often subdivision homeowner
associations (HOAs) are responsible for maintenance of laterals. The
irrigation managers prefer that irrigation systems serving new subdivisions
be piped resulting in a more efficient and manageable delivery system.
Grand Junction Drainage District operates multiple drainage
facilities designed for the purpose of collecting subsurface waters.
Historically, when tail water reaches an existing drainage facility,
that facility has the capacity to carry additional waters which can
be accepted into the system the Grand Junction Drainage District operates
and maintains.
(Res. 13-05, 1-5-05)
Stormwater management in the Pear Park neighborhood is the responsibility
of Mesa County, City of Grand Junction and the Grand Junction Drainage
District. The planning area is located in the Indian Wash and Lewis
Wash drainage basins. Generally, stormwater flows do not follow jurisdictional
boundaries and thus multi-jurisdictional solutions are needed.
In June of 2004, Mesa County, Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade
and Grand Junction Drainage District formed the “5-2-1 Drainage
Authority” to provide multi-jurisdictional drainage facilities
for stormwater and to manage stormwater quality as mandated under
the Clean Water Act and the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment/Water Quality Control District (Regulation No. 61). Pear
Park is a good example for the need of the Authority. Three different
agencies are charged with responsibility for stormwater, which can
lead to confusion for the residents on who to call when they have
a drainage problem.
Mapping of the drainage facilities in Pear Park is underway
by the City of Grand Junction, Mesa County and the Grand Junction
Drainage District. Mesa County has also compiled drainage information
from the various private development studies completed to date.
Stormwater management facilities generally include a means of conveying stormwater runoff from individual lots and streets downstream to an acceptable point of discharge. In some cases, runoff is routed through a detention pond to slow the rate of discharge before being released into downstream facilities. Eventually all runoff ends up in a lake or the Colorado River. The least intrusive method to deal with water quality and stormwater management is to adopt and use best management practices (BMPs) that avoid, minimize and mitigate water runoff activities. The issue of stormwater management is also related to floodplain management (see Chapter
37.36 GJMC, Environmental Resources/River Corridor).
In urban areas, the high percentage of impervious surfaces greatly
increases the amount of stormwater runoff from individual lots. Urban
stormwater management services require highly technical information
and analysis to be effective. As with other urban-level services,
municipal governments are better able to provide the more technical
level of service required for effective stormwater management in urban
areas; however, simple efforts like street sweeping, catch basins,
cleanouts and cleaning of underground pipes can improve the quality
of runoff without a lot of capital investment.
Stormwater management facilities are also an essential part
of new development. New development is required to provide adequate
facilities for stormwater runoff. Maintenance of those facilities
is the responsibility of the property owners.
(Res. 13-05, 1-5-05)
The Central Grand Valley Sanitation District and Clifton Sanitation
District II provide sewer service to residents of the Pear Park neighborhood.
Central Grand Valley collects wastewater and transports it to the
Persigo Wastewater Treatment Facility.
The City of Grand Junction and Mesa County jointly own and operate
the Persigo Wastewater Treatment Facility. Clifton Sanitation District
II collects and currently treats wastewater in a lagoon system in
Clifton. The Clifton Sanitation District II plans to build a new treatment
facility in the near future. The operation and treatment of sewage
treatment facilities are regulated by State statutes and regulations
administered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s
Water Quality Control Division. Sewer line sizes are upgraded as development
occurs, with improvements paid for by the developer.
Only a small number of the existing homes in the planning area
are not currently being served by sanitary sewer. These homes are
served by on-site individual sewage disposal systems, regulated by
Mesa County Department of Environmental Health. Failing systems are
required to connect to the public sewer system.
(Res. 13-05, 1-5-05)
City ordinance requires residences within the City of Grand
Junction to have their trash picked up by either the City or a private
hauler. Residents living within unincorporated Mesa County are not
required to have their trash picked up, however many do. Others choose
to haul their own garbage to the Mesa County Landfill. There are several
private haulers that provide solid waste collection to the Pear Park
Neighborhood.
With multiple refuse haulers, there are issues with noise, aesthetics
and the number of large trucks driving on neighborhood streets. Consolidating
services for individual neighborhoods would reduce:
(a) The frequency of refuse trucks;
(b) The number of days refuse containers are placed at the curb; and
(c) The number of large trucks using the neighborhood streets.
(Res. 13-05, 1-5-05)
The background information in this chapter depicts the current
conditions in the Pear Park planning area. Throughout the course of
researching and writing this chapter, staff did not uncover any new
service issues specific to the Pear Park planning area. As a result,
the goals and implementation section of this chapter was omitted;
however, the goals, policies and implementation items of the City’s
Growth Plan and the County’s Joint Urban Planning Area chapter
of the Mesa Countywide Land Use Plan continue to apply. City and County
staff will continue to implement and refine policies and codes that
address the following:
(a) Water conservation, xeriscape and low water use landscaping in new
and existing residential subdivisions.
(b) Work with developers of new subdivisions to plan for and use irrigation
water in closed/piped delivery systems for its most efficient use.
(c) Work with developers of new subdivisions to incorporate their ditches
and delivery systems in accordance with State statutes.
(d) Coordinate public works projects with service providers to eliminate
or avoid duplication or redundancy in construction efforts.
(Res. 13-05, 1-5-05)