Engineering our
mountain communities
Water resources
Roaring Fork Engineering served as town engineer and owner’s representative for a small hydropower plant that generates renewable energy for Carbondale’s Nettle Creek Water Treatment Plant. The plant sits on Forest Service land and was built with minimal site disturbance.
Challenges & highlights
Moving this project from feasibility to implementation required significant field engineering and field changes. Our team reconstructed a spring infiltration gallery that collects water into the main supply pipe for the treatment plant. We then built a small takeoff from that pipeline to the hydropower unit, which discharges back into the same pipeline. Water is diverted to generate electricity and then continues on to treatment, so there is no loss within the system. Field fabrication of the hydropower system was also required due to equipment conditions.
The site is on Forest Service property, so disturbance had to be kept to a minimum to limit environmental impact. The setting below Mount Sopris is also one of the most scenic of any project we have completed, especially in the fall.
The results
The Nettle Creek hydropower plant is operating and generating renewable energy that powers the Town of Carbondale’s own water treatment system. Water is diverted through the turbine and returned to the supply line, so the town produces clean electricity with no loss to its drinking water system. The project reduces the electricity Carbondale buys from the utility and advances the town’s renewable energy goals, all within a Forest Service setting that required minimal environmental disturbance.
Location: Carbondale, CO
Infrastructure that lasts
Whether you’re planning a new development, upgrading public infrastructure, or improving community systems, our team is ready to help bring your project from concept to completion.
