Arapahoe County approved the next well pad in the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan, a contentious oil and gas plan that is moving forward as individual well site applications are approved.

Oil and gas company Civitas is making way on the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan, which will guide drilling in Arapahoe County — including in areas near the Aurora Reservoir.

The latest well pad, State La Plata, was conditionally approved by county officials Tuesday, and will sit about 1.5 miles south of East Quincy Avenue and a half mile west of Watkins Road in unincorporated Arapahoe County, according to a county news release.

State La Plata will support the drilling and operation of up to 17 wells in addition to two existing wells and will be 10.5 acres, with 23 acres of total disturbed area for the pad.

Arapahoe County Public Works and Development determined that the proposed site meets the county’s criteria and Director Bryan Weimer approved the well pad with conditions, which include the following: 

• Civitas has to get final approval of the Oil and Gas Development Plan from the state’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission
• Building permits are required for all electrical work and site construction
• All pipelines on the pad will need approval
• Civitas has to mitigate impacts to wildlife
• The site must use electrification at all steps in the process
• Civitas has to pay the county a transportation impact fee per pad

A full list of conditions for approval is included in the well pad approval letter.

Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission voted in August to green light the overall fracking plan from Civitas near the Aurora Reservoir after days of testimony and years of controversy.

The Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan from Civitas includes 32,000 acres of proposed subsurface mineral development with eight locations and a total of 166 new wells and 14 existing horizontal wells. Part of the plan includes drilling about 7,000 feet under the Aurora Reservoir.

Civitas spent two years obtaining approval from the state for oil and gas drilling, finally getting it after a hearing that lasted three full days.

While the overall plan was approved by the commission, Civitas still has to submit an oil and gas development plan (OGDP) application for each of its proposed well sites before moving forward.

Each application has to be approved by both the ECMC and Arapahoe County before Civitas drills hit the ground.

The approval of the Lowry Ranch CAP is the culmination of a two-year effort by Civitas, which came with pushback from activists and area residents who live near the proposed drilling sites.

Save the Aurora Reservoir, a nonprofit formed to protect the reservoir from oil and gas operations, has attempted to stop the overall plan from moving forward. Other community members have joined the effort as well, citing concerns about health and safety, the project’s effect on the “climate crisis,” risks of water contamination and threats to local wildlife.

Civitas has countered that the project offers unequivocal benefits to the surrounding areas and to the county and it would would yield an estimated $235 million in tax revenue for Arapahoe County.