More than three dozen placed their names in the running to serve on a new arm of Douglas County’s government that will help the county’s elected leaders plan for the future of Douglas’ water supply, a pressing question for a county whose population is expected to keep growing.

Commissioner George Teal said he has heard the concern that “this is going to be a tool of two commissioners to redo water in Douglas County.”

“That comment has a couple things right but is fundamentally wrong, in that yes, two commissioners can steer a course, but I don’t think anybody has a (plan) to change to the detriment (of water) in Douglas County,” Teal said during an Aug. 14 meeting of county officials.

Two commissioners form a majority out of the county’s three-member board of leaders.

The new entity, called the County Water Commission, is expected to help create a plan regarding water supply and conservation, among other aspects of water in the county. It’ll consist of unpaid volunteers, Teal said.

Teal argued for seating a large number of members on the water commission, saying it would make it more difficult for “rash, bad decisions” to occur.

The forming of the new entity comes against the backdrop of a controversial proposal to pump about 22,000 acre-feet of water per year to Douglas County from the San Luis Valley, a region of Southern Colorado. (An acre-foot is the equivalent of a one-foot-deep pool about the size of a football field.)

Renewable Water Resources is the private company that proposed the project.

Last year, Commissioner Abe Laydon joined Commissioner Lora Thomas in deciding not to move forward with that project, while Teal continues to support it.

“Everything’s on the table as far as I’m concerned,” Teal told Colorado Community Media in early August. “We get another five or six years of rainy summers, OK, maybe then we can start to be picky and choosy.”

Names kept private

County officials recently put out a call for Douglas County residents to apply to serve on the new entity.

Teal and Thomas have argued over who released a name on the list of applicants to the news media.

“Commissioner Thomas has been leaking the name of Sean Tonner to several reporters,” Teal claimed at the Aug. 8 meeting. (Sean Tonner is one of the principals of Renewable Water Resources.)

Thomas said county officials were given an email with the names of those who applied. She said because it was an email, she thought it was public record.

“I did talk with a reporter (and did say) Sean Tonner’s name was on that list. Later that afternoon, when we came back in here, (county officials) decided we were going to treat those names as job applicants, and they’d be protected,” Thomas said.

She added that once officials were told it was to be treated as private, “I have told no reporters the information that was on that list.”

Teal had given Colorado Community Media the name Sean Tonner regarding applications to serve on the water commission. Thomas told Colorado Community Media her understanding is that county staff are treating information about who has applied as a non-public matter and will not release information until finalists are chosen.

The county asked for applications by close of business Aug. 11. According to the Aug. 14 meeting discussion, the county received 38 applications.

‘The buck stops with us’

The county’s elected leaders discussed how many members should be placed on the water commission. Thomas argued for seven, Teal for 15 and Laydon for 11.

Ultimately, they settled on the body having 11 seats, consisting of three per each of the county commissioners’ districts — or areas of the county — and two selected “at large.” The county commissioners will appoint the members.

Still opposing the Renewable Water Resources proposal, Thomas has expressed concern that the county’s formation of a water commission is “another swing at that ball.”

Asked whether any representatives of RWR have spoken with county officials about the water commission, Teal told Colorado Community Media: “I think I did see that Sean Tonner, he’s one of the principals of RWR … has put in an application to be on the water commission.”

Teal said he has been friends with Tonner for 20 years.

“We are very likely to drink beer together and have a social visit. He may bring it up,” Teal said. “But otherwise, that hasn’t happened yet.”

Teal has said he hasn’t seen the application itself.

Laydon said during an Aug. 8 meeting of county officials: “I have no problem with anybody applying, including Sean Tonner; he’s brilliant and has been around for decades and involved in water for a while.”

In the Aug. 14 meeting, Laydon noted that the water commission is an “advisory board” to help the overall county commissioners make choices.

“The buck stops with us. We are the three individuals that were elected,” Laydon said, adding that the county commissioners make the final decisions.