Weekly news and tips

1. Disabled adults help Springs Utilities recycle more than 200,000 pounds of metal
Before scrap cable and wire can be sent to recycling centers, it must be stripped down to bare wire. Community Intersections, an agency that serves people with developmental disabilities, partners with Springs Utilities to perform the wire-stripping process. Annually, the program recycles more than 200,000 pounds of aluminum, copper and brass, earns Springs Utilities about $100,000, and provides jobs to a dozen disabled adults in our community.
    Interview and photo opportunity: See Community Intersections employees at work and interview a Springs Utilities expert on Thursday, April 3, 12:30 p.m., Leon Young Service Center, 1521 Hancock Expressway.

2. Public meetings on Southern Delivery System begin this week
On Feb. 29, the Southern Delivery System achieved a key milestone when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the project. Reclamation has scheduled the following public meetings:

Pueblo: April 2 – Sangre de Cristo Arts & Conference Center, 210 N. Santa Fe Avenue
La Junta: April 3 – Koshare Indian Museum, 115 W. 18th Street
Fountain: April 8 – Fountain-Ft. Carson High School, 900 Jimmy Camp Road
Colorado Springs: April 9 – Leon Young Service Center, 1521 Hancock Expressway
Cañon City: April 10 – Quality Inn, 3075 E. US 50

Deadline: To be considered, comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement must be received by April 29, 2008. To submit comments, contact the Bureau of Reclamation at www.sdseis.com or (970) 962-4326.

Colorado Springs needs the Southern Delivery System to provide water for our future. Our future depends on it. We can’t maintain our healthy economy and our quality of life without it.

3. Spring is coming -- get the low down on Xeriscape
Local residents will soon have an opportunity to learn how to apply water-wise Xeriscape principles to their landscapes at one of several, free classes offered through Colorado Springs Utilities. Classes are scheduled for April 5, April 19, May 3 and June 7, and start at 9 a.m. Beginning with the April 19 session (weather permitting), tours of Springs Utilities' Xersicape Demonstration Garden will be offered immediately following class.
    Interview and photo opportunity: Springs Utilities experts are available to discuss the upcoming classes and Xeriscape techniques, with the Xeriscape Demonstration Garden as a backdrop.