New Douglas County water commission includes former state official, real estate developer
Appointees to a new Douglas County water commission include a former state water official and a real estate developer with a controversial plan to export water to the south metro suburbs from the San Luis Valley.
Douglas County commissioners approved 11 appointees to the commission during a work session Monday. Among them is James Eklund, a water attorney and former director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and Sean Tonner, a principal with Renewable Water Resources, a real estate development group that hopes to sell agricultural water from the San Luis Valley to Douglas County water users.
The commission, created earlier this year, is charged with developing a plan for the county’s water needs until 2050. Water providers in the area have been concerned that special interest groups, like Renewable Water Resources, could sway the group’s approach to water projects.
The 11-member advisory board includes three District 1 representatives, Eklund, Jack Hilbert and Donald Langley; three District 2 appointees, Clark Hammelman, James Maras and Roger Hudson; and three District 3 representatives, Frank Johns, Evan Ela and Harold Smethills.
Tonner and Tricia Bernhardt are at-large members, or voting members who will represent rural communities in the county. Appointee terms will end in November 2025, and three-quarters of the group will be residents or landowners within the county. Their first board meeting will likely be in December.
Douglas County still must adopt the official resolution that will define the commission’s structure and goals in more detail — which should happen Tuesday — but the overall goal is to ensure the county has an adequate water supply into the future. The advisory group will be responsible for shaping a comprehensive water plan that will provide for the county for decades to come.