The Casper Aquifer Protection Plan has been an ongoing project for Albany County and the City of Laramie’s Natural Resource Department since kicking off in early 2022. This past July, the Laramie City Council adopted and approved the new and improved Casper Aquifer Protection Plan and most recently approved the western boundary update on November 21^st.

In the Casper Aquifer Protection Plan (CAPP), Fort Collins-based consulting firm, Stantec, (hired for their expertise in hydrology, geology, and engineering) recommends expanding the western boundary for the protected area. However, the Casper Aquifer is underground, and the western boundary is unable to be surveyed due to the rough topography and cost. Therefore, to expand the western boundary, current property boundaries within the Casper Aquifer will be used. If the proposed western boundary goes through a current property, that property line will become the new western boundary of the CAPP.

“We’re moving through the process, and now that the western boundary has been approved, we need to sit down and get the administrative parts moving by reviewing the plan, pulling the next set of recommendations out, vetting them, and then provide them to the City Council and receive public comment,” says the City of Laramie Natural Resource Program Administrator, Jay Smith. 

Following the western boundary approval, the City of Laramie Natural Resource Department will now go through the remaining recommendations outlined by Stantec in the CAPP and present them to the City Council for hearing and public comment. It will take additional time, decisions, collaboration, and ordinances by the City to implement any of the additional recommendations provided by Stantec.

One of the CAPP recommendations the City Council will review next includes the expansion of the City of Laramie’s groundwater monitoring network, which requires drilling new wells in specific locations in order to monitor and determine possible contaminates and water travel times to protect Laramie’s municipal water.

“This is a major recommendation. Any potential expansion of the monitoring well program will need to be thoroughly vetted before implementation. The CAPP outlines the feasibility of general well location but more specific locations will need to be analyzed. The plan provides quite a bit of information, but designing a monitoring well network will take some time and planning,” says Smith.

Another recommendation important to the community and commercial development is the refinement of site-specific investigations. Currently, whenever someone is considering development within the protection area, they are required to perform a site-specific investigation. With the new CAPP, current site-specific investigation criteria will be updated and refined with more specific requirements.

“Since 2004, the CAPP has never stopped a proposed development. There will always be room and opportunity for development and the CAPP will not prevent it, it will just require more layers and steps to keep the area protected,” says Smith.

The City of Laramie encourages residents to view the Casper Aquifer Protection Plan at https://cityoflaramie.org/1232/Casper-Aquifer-Protection-Plan-CAPP and stay tuned for upcoming City Council meetings where public comment will be taken on the next CAPP recommendations.