If you live in the Denver metro area, shouldn’t you have a say when it comes to deciding if and how drilling and fracking occurs near the rivers and reservoirs that supply your drinking water?

Moreover, if the federal government, under the direction of Colorado Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Helen Hankins, wants to drill and frack on public lands in your watershed, shouldn’t your voice matter?

We think so.

Please speak out now and tell BLM Director Helen Hankins:  Don’t Frack Denver’s Water!

Director Hankins should protect our drinking water and have a balanced approach to energy development on our public lands instead of being a real estate agent for oil and gas companies.

South Park Basin: The Headwaters of Denver's Drinking Water Supply

The South Park Basin, located in Park County, Colorado, is a critical watershed for the Denver Metro Area’s drinking water supply, serving as the headwaters of the South Platte River which provides drinking water to 75 percent of Colorado’s population.

Antero, Spinney, and Eleven Mile Reservoirs, are all located in the basin. These three reservoirs have a combined storage capacity of over 170,000 acre-feet of drinking water. Approximately 40% of Denver Water and Aurora Water’s drinking water supply comes from these three reservoirs. Communities served include, Aurora, Denver, Wheat Ridge, Edgewater, Lakewood, Ken Caryl, Columbine, Columbine Valley, Littleton, Centennial, Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills, Federal Heights, Glendale, Lakeside, and Sheridan.

Just two hours from the Denver, the South Park Basin is a popular destination for fishing, including gold medal fisheries on the South Platte River and at Spinney Mountain Reservoir. 

Don't Frack Denver's Water!

The Spinney Reservoir

Unfortunately, the Colorado Bureau of Land Management and Director Helen Hankins – who oversee development on more than 281,000 acres in the South Park Basin – have twice entertained drilling over the last two years next to Antero, Spinney Mountain, and Eleven Mile Reservoirs and the South Platte River.

Nearly 2 million residents in the metro Denver area are potentially at risk of having their drinking water contaminated with cancer causing chemicals from drilling and fracking.

Instead of taking a balanced approach, Dir. Hankins is currently relying on a 16 year-old plan which left the entire region open to energy development and failed to take into account any serious consideration of impacts to the watershed and our drinking water.

There is simply too much at stake here, which is why conservation groups, Park County Commissioners, sportsmen, local Park County residents, and metro Denver residents are calling on Dir. Hankins to take a balanced approach and do comprehensive planning – known as a Master Leasing Plan – for the South Park Basin.

Lack of Leadership

Colorado BLM Director Helen Hankins is a 40 year career employee. Hankins earned a bachelor’s degree in geology and has worked at all levels of the BLM and in multiple states. She was appointed as the Director of the Colorado BLM in February 2010.  In her time as serving as the Director, Hankins has lacked the leadership on energy development that environmental and conservation groups would like to see. Hankins has consistently made decisions that favor oil and gas industry profits, while painting conservation efforts as anti-economy and dismissing input from local communities across the state.

Coloradans deserve better. We need the oil and gas industry to play by the rules and have a balanced approach to energy development in the South Park Basin.

Our Goals and Actions

The South Platte River in Denver

Don’t Frack Denver’s Water is a coalition of conservation and citizen groups that are working to get broad community support for a Master Leasing Plan (MLP) for the South Park Basin. We are working to educate and empower local citizens about proposed drilling and fracking at the headwaters of the South Platte River, all to urge Colorado BLM Director Helen Hankins to create a Master Leasing Plan and provide a balanced approach to energy development in the region.

A Master Leasing Plan allows all stakeholder groups to have meaningful input before decisions are made and takes a hard on-the-ground look at conflicts between oil and gas development and other resources such as air and water quality, wildlife, plant species, recreation, hunting and fishing, public health, and the local economy. 

Don’t Frack Denver’s Water is calling on Colorado BLM Director Helen Hankins to:

• Bring a balanced approach to public lands management and be a steward of our public lands, not a real estate agent for oil and gas companies.
• Hold oil and gas companies accountable for toxic spills and drilling practices in order to protect our air, water, and great outdoors.
• Prepare a Master Leasing Plan with broad support from local communities as well as citizens in the metro area that guarantees protection of Denver’s drinking water.

Contact Director Helen Hankins TODAY to take the first important step in protecting Denver’s drinking water and begin a Master Leasing Plan for the South Park Basin!

GET INVOLVED:  To get involved or learn more, please contact us by email or call Gary Wockner at (303) 405-6755.