City contractors will begin surveying the CU Boulder South site this month and prepare for groundwater monitoring slated to begin after the first of the year.
CU Boulder owns the 308-acre parcel of land just outside the city limits southwest of Boulder. CU Boulder and the city have identified about 80 acres at the site for potential flood-mitigation purposes to provide protection to downstream neighbors.
Data gathered over the next several months will inform the city’s preliminary flood-mitigation engineering efforts, how much university land will be required for flood mitigation, and future annexation discussions between CU Boulder and the Boulder City Council.
Pending finalization of a city-university access agreement, site visitors can expect to see contractors walking around the property with survey equipment beginning in December.
The goal of site surveying will be to gather topographic data points, information on bridges and culverts and to understand the geographic features of the CU Boulder South property.
Upon completion of the surveying work, city contractors will begin drilling small wells on the property to allow for remote monitoring of groundwater levels. To do this work, they will rely on small backhoes, drilling equipment and other necessary implements.
Once the work begins, surveying, construction and installation of monitoring wells will take place Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The city currently anticipates completing all phases of the work before the summer of 2018, depending on subsurface conditions and the weather.
In July 2017, the city and Boulder County jointly approved the 2015 Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update, which provides a framework for further assessment of flood mitigation and for discussions between the city and the university about future uses for the CU Boulder South property.
Use of the property for city flood mitigation would require Boulder City Council approval of an annexation agreement between the city and the university.
For more information visit www.colorado.edu/cubouldersouth and www.southbouldercreek.com.
