Commissioners adopt aquifer protection amendments

The amendments seek to protect the aquifer from nitrate and other contaminants by limiting what can be built on the land above. The last two elections put and kept Democrats in power.

The Albany County Commissioners approved a set of stronger protections for Laramie’s main source of drinking water during their meeting Tuesday.

Opponents of those protections have said they are unnecessary, but Commissioner Sue Ibarra said it’s important for the county to be proactive in protecting its most vital of resources.

“I believe (in) taking serious measures now to protect our aquifer,” she said. “Potential business and possible future residents may be deterred from coming if we don’t. Simply waiting for the reports of ill health effects as a result of inadequate water protections is, I believe, negligent and lazy on our part.”

But Commissioner Terri Jones has fiercely opposed the regulations, painting her opponents’ position as a political power grab.

“These regulations hurt people,” she said. “They take people’s land, they take their savings, they take their wealth, they take away their retirement, education for kids and grandkids, and also take away elder care. This is not about water. This is a political action by the Clean Water Advocates to take away people’s wealth.”

Jones has frequently ascribed conspiratorial intentions to her political adversaries.

Commission Chair Pete Gosar admitted he wasn’t an expert in any of the technical or scientific fields being brought to bear on the issue of aquifer protection. But he said the role of an elected official is that of risk management, or making the best decisions based on the available evidence.

“And I think the risk of doing nothing outweighs the risk of doing something,” he said.

The motion passed with a 2-1 vote, with Democrats Gosar and Ibarra voting for the new regulations and Jones, a Republican, voting against.

Ibarra said long-term aquifer protection will require ongoing thought and consideration.

“Because (the amendments) are a working document, it will be subject to change as more information is acquired and situations merit,” she said. “It will require continued and attentive public participation.”

One long road and two vital elections

Democrats and other aquifer protection activists have been pushing for strengthened protections for several years.

The battle started as a fight over the re-opening of the Tumbleweed Gas Station, which is located on land atop the Casper Aquifer. When efforts to thwart Tumbleweed proved unsuccessful, advocates pushed for greater protections at the county level for all the land above the aquifer.

While the battlelines don’t fall completely along party lines, local Democrats, in general, have wanted to see greater protections for the aquifer, while local Republicans, in general, view stronger regulations as unnecessary and an infringement on free enterprise.

In 2020, Sue Ibarra unseated Commissioner Terri Jones, flipping the three-member county commission from red to blue. That was when aquifer protection activists started seeing some wins. In 2021, the commissioners passed updated regulations restricting what could be built on the land above the aquifer. But this was challenged in court on procedural grounds and sent aquifer activists back to the drawing board.

Similar regulations were drafted up once more and made their way through the same bureaucratic processes. The new amendments are very similar to the original set.

In 2022, two of the three commissioners — Democrat Pete Gosar and Republican Heber Richardson — faced reelection challenges. Republicans had the opportunity to flip the commission back to red, but voters ultimately decided to reelect Gosar and to replace Richardson with a resurgent Jones.

The result is that the county’s highest board will remain in Democrat hands for at least the next two years — and efforts to strengthen aquifer protections can continue unimpeded.

Those efforts culminated in the commissioners’ approval Tuesday night.

(The push for updated regulations is distinct but related to the ongoing process of rewriting the Casper Aquifer Protection Plan — a guiding document being produced jointly by city and county governments.)

What’s in the new amendments?

As County Planner David Gertsch explained to the commission, the new protections seek to limit development on the land above the aquifer, thereby limiting the amount of nitrate and other contaminants that seep through the ground and into the water supply.

“That’s our power as the county — the public health, safety and welfare,” he said. “We’re looking at ways to regulate land use to protect the aquifer. It has to do with protection of water, but the specific regulations have to do with the use of land.”

The land above the aquifer is commonly called the Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone, or APOZ.

“The (amendments) will further define the purpose and basis for the APOZ regulations, amend certain definitions specific to the APOZ regulations, amend procedures for the delineation and amendment of the boundary of the area (and) provide a minimum lot size of 35 acres and density of one dwelling per 35 acres for future APOZ development,” he said.

According to Gertsch and commission documents, the amendments also:

• Provide criteria for lessening on-site wastewater treatment system setbacks from vulnerable features;

• Amend requirements, standards, review, and exemptions for site specific investigations of properties in the area;

• Provide procedures and requirements for modifying existing APOZ developments;

• Amend provisions for on-site wastewater treatment system design standards and inspections;

• Amend standards for nonconforming uses within the overlay zone boundary;

• And amend language throughout the regulations for clarity.