Part 3 of 6-Part Geothermal Investigation
High Country Advocate Staff Report
What’s Happening
At the November 12, 2025 Buena Vista Board of Trustees meeting, Chris and Diane Williams asked for mercy. They’re building a log home at 9,000 feet. When the town closed the Greg Drive water fill station in June without notice, their construction water source disappeared.
Neighbors are drilling second wells at $50,000 each. The Williams family can’t afford that. They’re surviving on borrowed water.
“We’re at the mercy of our neighbors,” Diane Williams told the trustees.
The town initially blamed low snowfall and high summer demand—750,000 gallons per day capacity against peak demand of 1.3 million gallons. They’ve since installed equipment to process 2 million gallons daily. But the station remains closed while the town figures out how to control access and prevent large-capacity haulers from taking water out of the valley.
This is Chaffee County’s current water reality: even with capacity to process 2 million gallons daily, the town worries about protecting water from large-scale extraction. And Save Our Arkansas Valley has been trying to tell officials since fall 2024 that adding industrial geothermal operations would create exactly that kind of large-scale extraction threat.
SOAV gathered 1,300 signatures opposing Mt. Princeton Geothermal’s electricity generation project at Maxwell Park. The opposition isn’t about aesthetics or property values. It’s about 1,900 private wells within five miles of a proposed facility that would pump massive volumes of water underground, then reinject it—potentially contaminating or draining the aquifers those wells depend on.
Blane Clark, a retired accountant who lives three-quarters of a mile from the proposed site, co-founded SOAV in 2024. At a community meeting, he clarified the group’s position: “We’re not poo-pooing this idea. What we are saying is that the location is stupid.”
The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission’s July 2024 geothermal map shows Chaffee County in bright yellow—suitable for direct heating applications, not electricity generation. Areas suitable for power plants appear in orange or red on that map.
Mt. Princeton Geothermal received a $500,000 Colorado Energy Office grant in May 2024—before that map was published—to develop electricity generation in a location the state’s own maps show is wrong for that purpose.
Why It Matters
Location is key. SOAV’s opposition isn’t to geothermal energy—it’s to placing industrial facilities in the wrong location.
Maxwell Park isn’t remote desert suitable for industrial development. SOAV mapped 366 residences within two miles and 1,900 private wells within five miles. A 2009 Colorado State University survey documented the area as “intermix wilderness-urban interface”—not industrial zone.
Those 1,900 wells are already stressed. Chris and Diane Williams are hauling borrowed water because their source dried up. Neighbors are spending $50,000 drilling second wells. The town closed the Greg Drive water fill station—not because they lack capacity (they’ve installed equipment to process 2 million gallons daily) but because they’re trying to prevent large-capacity haulers from extracting water out of the valley.
Now state officials want to add an operation that pumps thousands of gallons daily underground, then reinjects it—potentially contaminating or draining the aquifers 1,900 households depend on.
The Water Contamination Risk: Geothermal plants inject water underground to extract heat, then reinject cooled water back into aquifers. This process can contaminate drinking water supplies, drain wells, and alter water chemistry.
Blue Mountain Geothermal in Nevada demonstrates the risk. SOAV conducted a site visit and documented operational problems. The facility reinjects cooling water into the same aquifer supplying local wells. Contamination concerns arose. The plant’s rated 49.5 MW capacity produces only 24-25 MW—half its design output.
If Mt. Princeton Geothermal follows Blue Mountain’s pattern, a 10 MW rated facility might produce 5 MW of actual power while risking 1,900 private water supplies in a county where residents are already hauling borrowed water and spending $50,000 drilling backup wells.
Wildlife Habitat Disruption: Maxwell Park State Wildlife Area provides year-round elk habitat, winter deer habitat, and bighorn sheep migration routes. The 2009 CSU survey identified critical biological resources including nesting raptors and sensitive species.
Geothermal operations create 24/7 generator and cooling tower noise, continuous security lighting, and constant industrial traffic. These impacts fragment habitat in an area designated for wildlife protection—not industrial development.
Federal Wetland Violations: Dry Creek flows through the proposed site into the Arkansas River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdictional authority over these wetlands. SOAV documented that Dry Creek qualifies as jurisdictional wetland, requiring federal permits Mt. Princeton Geothermal hadn’t obtained when pursuing county approvals.
Chaffee County’s October 2013 1041 regulations specifically address development near wetlands and wildlife areas. The regulations exist because Maxwell Park’s ecological value was documented long before anyone proposed geothermal there.
Operational Failure Risk: Blue Mountain’s problems aren’t unique. Operational failures release hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. Reinjection systems fail, causing contamination. Production consistently falls short of design capacity. A 2023 Berkeley Lab study found geothermal’s net value lower than solar and wind. Parasitic loads—power consumed by pumps, cooling towers, and well operations—eat large portions of generated electricity.
Seismic Activity: Geothermal operations cause ground deformation and micro-seismicity. Fluid injection creates pressure changes in faults, triggering earthquakes. Maxwell Park sits in the Rio Grande Rift—the geological feature providing heat also creates seismic risk.
What Mainstream Media Missed
Mainstream coverage portrayed SOAV as local NIMBYs opposing renewable energy. The Colorado Sun and Ark Valley Voice reported on community meetings and State Land Board decisions but didn’t ask the obvious question:
Why did the Colorado Energy Office award $500,000 in May 2024 to develop electricity generation in a location its own July 2024 map shows is only suitable for heating?
The February 2025 Carbon Management Roadmap identifies only three locations for geothermal electricity in Colorado: Raton Basin, Piceance Basin, and eastern Denver Basin. Chaffee County doesn’t appear anywhere in that 47-page report.
Yet the Colorado Energy Office awarded half a million dollars to Mt. Princeton Geothermal, with endorsements from Commissioner Keith Baker and Mayor Libby Fay, despite 1,300 signatures documenting science-based concerns about water contamination, wildlife impacts, wetland violations, and seismic risks.
The pattern mainstream media missed: State agencies fund projects in wrong locations while dismissing community science as NIMBY opposition.
The Economic Reality Nobody Calculated: Mt. Princeton Geothermal projected 15 permanent jobs once operational, based on Blue Mountain’s staffing ratio. Fifteen jobs in a county where the Williams family is hauling borrowed water and neighbors are drilling $50,000 backup wells.
Construction would bring 167 temporary workers to a county with documented housing shortages. Tax revenue remains speculative until a plant is built and assessed.
What hasn’t been quantified: Impacts to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs tourism, Arkansas River recreation, and agricultural operations if the project contaminates or drains private wells. What happens when 1,900 households lose water access?
Ask Chris and Diane Williams what water insecurity costs.
What It Means
SOAV spent fall 2024 compiling technical documentation. They mapped population density. They visited Blue Mountain Geothermal to document operational problems. They compiled data on water resources, wildlife habitat, wetland jurisdiction, and seismic risks. They presented the state’s own maps showing Chaffee County in the wrong category for electricity generation.
None of it mattered.
The Colorado Energy Office awarded $500,000 anyway. Commissioner Keith Baker and Mayor Libby Fay endorsed the grant anyway. The project advanced despite 1,300 signatures and documented science showing Maxwell Park is the wrong location.
This is what “location is key” means when political connections override technical merit. This is what happens when state grants reduce developer risk—wrong locations become profitable because taxpayers absorb the cost of failure.
SOAV did everything right. They compiled professional-grade research. They presented science-based opposition. They gathered community support. They documented that the state’s own maps show this location is wrong for electricity generation.
And state officials ignored them.
Now Chris and Diane Williams haul borrowed water while neighbors drill $50,000 backup wells. The town closed its water fill station because there isn’t enough water. And state officials want to add an industrial operation that pumps thousands of gallons underground daily, then reinjects it into the same aquifers 1,900 households depend on.
For 15 permanent jobs.
The next articles in this series will examine how the State Land Board denied Mt. Princeton Geothermal’s lease renewal and began seeking corporate developers willing to pay more for the same wrong location, the political coordination that pushed this project despite community opposition, and how this pattern connects to institutional capture documented in the Buffalo Commons investigation.
But the fundamental question remains: If 1,300 signatures, three years of research, and the state’s own maps showing the wrong location don’t stop a project, what does?
Sources
Save Our Arkansas Valley (savearkvalley.org); Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission “Geothermal in Colorado” map (July 2024); Colorado Energy Office grant records (May 2024); Colorado Carbon Management Roadmap (February 2025); Colorado State University “Survey of Critical Biological Resources Chaffee County” (2009); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wetland documentation; Chaffee County 1041 Regulations (October 2013); Colorado HB22-1382 Dark Sky Act; Mt. Princeton Geothermal community presentation (November 30, 2023); Blue Mountain Geothermal site visit documentation; Berkeley Lab renewable energy net value analysis (2023); Scientific literature on geothermal-induced seismicity
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