Pueblo Native Joins Regional Water Board
- The Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District appointed Jean Van Pelt as Pueblo County director at its mid-April board meeting, adding a former district employee. - Van Pelt previously coordinated Arkansas Basin outreach and conservation planning, and joins as the district oversees the 130-mile Arkansas Valley Conduit. - The conduit is meant to serve 39 communities and 50,000 people east of Pueblo. (usbr.gov)
Jean Van Pelt has joined the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District board as Pueblo County director after the board approved her appointment at its mid-April meeting. (chieftain.com) (kiowacountypress.net) Van Pelt is a former district employee and a longtime Arkansas River Basin organizer who grew up in Pueblo. She previously worked on public education, participation and outreach for the Arkansas Basin Roundtable after retiring from Southeastern. (chieftain.com) (watereducationcolorado.org) Her seat matters because the district manages Fryingpan-Arkansas Project water and helps steer the Arkansas Valley Conduit, the long-delayed pipeline system now under construction in southeastern Colorado. (secwcd.org) (usbr.gov) The conduit is designed as a 130-mile pipeline with spurs carrying water from Pueblo Reservoir to communities farther east. Federal and district documents say it is planned to serve 39 communities and about 50,000 people. (secwcd.org) (usbr.gov) That project has become more urgent as many Lower Arkansas Valley systems struggle with groundwater quality. Colorado Public Radio reported in January that 18 of the 39 conduit participants were under state enforcement orders tied to drinking-water standards for radionuclides. (cpr.org) The district’s broader water picture is also tight. Its website says the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project typically imports about 57,400 acre-feet a year, while district reporting cited this spring by Coyote Gulch said the April 1 forecast for 2026 was about 6,500 acre-feet. (secwcd.org) (coyotegulch.blog) Van Pelt comes in with long ties to that work. In a 2018 interview, she said her Arkansas Basin Roundtable role was focused on getting basin implementation plan projects built and securing local buy-in. (watereducationcolorado.org) The district’s current board roster now lists directors from across the Arkansas Basin, including Pueblo figures such as former Pueblo Water executive Alan Hamel. Van Pelt’s appointment keeps Pueblo representation on a board making decisions about imported water, storage and delivery. (secwcd.org)
