Onsite Systems Management in the Rockies

Caigan McKenzie
NSFC Staff Writer

Crystal Lakes, Colorado, is a popular recreational community in the Rocky Mountains. Most people are drawn by the allure of the community’s sparkling, freshwater lakes. For Karen Mancl, Ph.D., it’s the wastewater.

Mancl has good reason to be curious about Crystal Lakes’ wastewater management practices. In June 1999, she was granted sabbatical leave from the Ohio State University School of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering specifically to research and identify public policies that shape successful wastewater management systems. Crystal Lakes is one of the successful wastewater management communities Mancl explored.

The work Mancl normally does is researching wastewater technologies and teaching these technologies to a variety of students—contractors, regulators, developers, homeowners, government officials, and college students.

But after receiving a grant from Phase IV of the National Onsite Demonstration Program (NODP), Mancl set aside the technology to focus on the public policies of wastewater systems.

National Onsite Demonstration Program (NODP)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funds Phase IV of the NODP with a budget of $1.25 million. It is managed by the National Small Flows Clearinghouse (NSFC) to assist local officials in implementing management districts around the country. It does this by providing them with successful management models and information for customizing these models to meet their specific needs.

Crystal Lakes Begins Development

Crystal Lakes is a private, mountainous, recreational community northwest of Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. It encompasses 10 square miles nestled within wooded lands owned by the U.S. Forest Service. Its name reflects its four man-made lakes. Three of these lakes were constructed by damming Panhandle Creek. Lone Pine Creek was dammed to create the fourth lake.

The first cabin was completed in Crystal Lakes in 1970, two years before the Colorado legislature passed a water augmentation law that allowed communities to borrow water as long as they returned it before the owners of the water needed it. This would be accomplished by returning water to the stream system through percolation from the soil absorption fields. In 1973, the Crystal Lakes Water and Sewer Association was formed to administer the state-mandated water augmentation plan.

Crystal Lakes’ Water Augmentation Plan

In 1974, Crystal Lakes developed its own water augmentation plan, the first in the state to plan for parcels with fewer than 35 acres. “Without a water augmentation plan,” Mancl said, “Crystal Lakes would have no right to use water. And without a right to use water, Crystal Lakes could not develop.”

Crystal Lakes’ water augmentation plan limits beneficial use of water to in-house domestic use. Yard irrigation is prohibited, but irrigation of up to 10 acres of open space in the development is allowed.

The plan is for 1,312 homes. By 1999 there were 112 full-time dwellings and 600 part-time dwellings and properties, a community center, firehouse, road, recreation shop, store, and restaurant.

Types of Onsite Systems

The use of onsite systems is extensive in Crystal Lakes. One hundred and twelve serve full-time dwellings, 500 serve part-time dwellings, and the remainder are holding tanks that serve recreational vehicles.

Of these systems, one cluster soil absorption system serves 25 homes on small lots, and one large system serves the lodge, restaurant, and offices. Approximately 400 systems are conventional soil absorption systems, and the water and sewer association manages 300 holding tanks, seven community vault toilets, and recreational vehicle dump stations. The water augmentation plan allows evapotranspiration systems to be used for 72 properties.

Special Programs

Recreational vehicle holding tanks caused a problem in 1993 when trailer owners dumped sewage on the ground because they found it inconvenient to move trailers to designated stations for dumping.

The association solved this problem by purchasing a trailer with a small tank that allowed for gravity flow from a recreational vehicle’s holding tank. A $15 fee was assessed for this service.

The association also found a way to construct soil absorption systems in bedrock areas. The developer excavates weathered granite (a hard volcanic rock), drives over it with excavation equipment to crush it, and then places it back into the excavated site.

Crystal Lakes Water and Sewer Association

Landowners who use the Crystal Lakes Water and Sewer Association’s water or sewage facilities are association members. Members elect the association’s board of directors with one vote for each lot. Directors voted into office do not need to be Colorado residents, users of the association’s facilities, or association shareholders.

The community’s developer was an original member of the board but was voted out of office to ensure that the association would be autonomous from its developer. This nonprofit group is funded through revenues it receives from membership dues and from pumping fees.

The association uses a variety of methods to keep homeowners’ water and wastewater systems in compliance. For example, property owners are required to join the association. The association has the right to pre-approve sites before they are developed and to design the systems to be installed. The association also inspects septic systems when property is sold, uses its own pumper truck to regularly pump septic and holding tanks, and records water consumption and wastewater pumped.




The 200 annual meeting of the Crystal Lakes Water and Sewer Association. The association works to keep the community in compliance with sate wastewater and water use regulations and manages its own wastewater treatment and water use plan.

Benefits of Water and Sewer Association Membership

Members of the water and sewer association are entitled to a variety of benefits, including

• free percolation tests;

• free consultation for developing water or sewage facilities;

• free water fills for recreational vehicles, small water containers, and community showers;

• water and sewage hauling rates 25 percent lower than market value;

• faster approval of well permits;

• annual testing of wells for contamination; and

• water rights protection against developers and other water users on the stream system.

Homeowner Support

Crystal Lakes published its first community newsletter in 1971. The newsletter expressed the development company’s commitment to preserving the ecology of the mountain area in which the development is located, to keep water pure and usable, and to meet state standards for sewage disposal.

A summary of Mancl’s interviews with homeowners indicates that the majority agreed with Crystal Lakes’ wastewater management policies.

“Crystal Lakes has a better capability of controlling the sewage solution up here than probably any of the big cities do,” said one homeowner.

“I would hate to think of what we would have if we didn’t have the septic and well regulations that we have. I would argue for a continuation and perhaps a strengthening of standards that are developed—not at the federal level, but at a more local level,” said another homeowner.

Twelve homeowners resisted membership in the water and sewer association. These homeowners argued that they should not be forced to join the association since their homes were built before it was formed.

The association filed suit, but exception was granted to the original owners of lots who had wells drilled prior to July 18, 1975.

Collecting Delinquent Accounts

The Crystal Lakes Water and Sewer Association has found that most members pay dues promptly. Liens are placed against delinquent lots. In addition, a delinquency fee that averages 18 percent is assessed against these properties to cover costs. Liens are collected only after the sale of the property by warranty deed transfer.

Malfunctions

Since 1973, Crystal Lakes has only had one system malfunction—the one serving the lodge. The low malfunction rate is partially attributed to the seasonal use of the systems.

Plans for the Future

Mancl said that an abandoned airstrip is being considered for a second cluster system to serve a group of homes now using holding tanks. The association also has set aside sites for large soil absorption systems throughout the development to serve new homes.

Mancl plans to revisit Crystal Lakes in 20 years. “I want to see how true Crystal Lakes stays to its original wastewater management goals and how its public policies impact its streams and communities.”

For more information about Crystal Lakes as a case study for NODP Phase IV, write Karen Mancl, Ph.D., professor, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 590 Woody Hayes Dr., The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 or telephone her at (614) 292-6007.

For information about the rate of malfunctions at Crystal Lakes, contact Richard Rosecrans, general manager, Crystal Lakes Water and Sewer Association, 300 Tami Rd., Red Feather Lakes, CO 80545. Rosecrans’s telephone number is (970) 881-2250.

NSFC Products

Readers who wish to learn more about the NODP and its projects should consider the following educational products offered by the NSFC.

Fact Sheet—Overview of the National Onsite Demonstration Program (Item #SFFSGN137) Developed by the NSFC, this fact sheet briefly summarizes the NODP and its first four phases. The NODP assists communities in selecting, installing, funding, monitoring, and using onsite treatment systems and management models that are cost-effective, viable alternatives to full central sewage systems. There is no cost for this four-page fact sheet.

Fact Sheet—The National Onsite Demonstration Program: Projects Database (Item #SFFSGN140) This NSFC fact sheet summarizes the NODP Database, which is designed to house a wide range of information on various domestic wastewater demonstration projects within the U.S. Details are provided about the information that will be included for each database entry, how the database can be used as a resource tool, and how everyone can participate and benefit from the database. This five-page fact sheet is offered free of charge.