A standing room-only crowd gathered at City Hall Monday evening to share their concerns with Boulder’s City Council about the town’s water sales – nearly a million gallons, as of this week – for use by a resort in the Shields Valley.
“When I’ve spoken to people in this community, it’s very much agreed upon that if this sale of water was for emergency use for our neighbors in Montana, people wouldn’t see a problem with it,” said Brady Smith, a Boulder Valley rancher who asked that the question of bulk water sales be put on the Council and who introduced the discussion.
“Part of the issue is this is a recreational use 150 miles away,” Smith said. “We have to think about what happens to our water in the long term [and] if we’re setting a precedent that we are a town that will sell its water to whoever comes along for what’s a pretty low cost.”
The City began selling water in August for $10 per 1000 gallons to Boulder-based Bullock Contracting, which hauls it to the Crazy Mountain Ranch for the irrigation of its new golf course. City Administrator Brian Bullock said that, through Sept. 14, the City had sold 949,700 gallons.
Smith and other residents said they worried that continued bulk water sales could one day lead to dry area wells, the deterioration of water quality, and increased pumping costs as aquifers are depleted.
“Our water supply is so important,” said resident Pat Alverson. “Can we afford to let the rich and the famous have a great big, huge golf course while we’re sitting here rationing water and wondering when the next well is going to go dry?”
In response to audience questions, Elly Schmeltzer, an engineer with Morrison-Maerle advising the City on well system improvements, said that the water sales were consuming approximately 4% of the capacity of the City’s Well 3, which “has a substantial water right and a pump with substantial capacity.” Well 3 has not contributed to the City’s domestic water supply since being taken offline about five years ago.
Brian Bullock indicated that the water level in Well 3 has remained essentially unchanged over the course of the water sales, measuring 22.58 feet on Aug. 11, before the sales began, and 23.97 feet on Sept 8. The average bulk water sales of 28,779 per day comprise about 6% of the City’s daily water consumption.
City Councilors appeared surprised to learn of a 2017 study, recalled by resident Ray Cordeiro, of water drawdown in the Boulder River Valley. That research, by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology (MBMG) Groundwater Investigations Program, examined the “chronically dewatered” Lower Boulder River. The MBMG prepared an area-wide groundwater flow model to “better understand the impacts to surface-water availability from increased residential groundwater development in this area.”
It’s not clear whether that research, which found relatively modest impact from housing development on the Boulder River’s water flow, has bearing on the City’s wells or surrounding aquifers. Brian Bullock, who also was unfamiliar with the study, told The Monitor he would investigate its findings.
There appeared to be significant support among the 30 or so meeting attendees for Smith’s proposal that the City establish an advisory board to consult on water issues. Bullock said: “I’m sure that is something the Council would consider.”
Budget and zoning votes
In other business, the Council approved the City’s budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The budget for core operations is $677,323, up 1.9% from a year earlier. That includes pay increases for certain City employees of between 5.3% and 21.4%, and increases for emergency medical technicians and ambulance drivers of 4.2% to 18%, which the Council also accepted.
The Council also approved a new zoning code ordinance, which will take effect Oct. 15. The new code is organized by a zoning map that divides the city into six separate districts — Residential, Mixed Use, General Commercial, Central Business, Public and Institutional, and Parks Recreation and Open Land — each with its own set of regulations. The current map has four zoning districts.
