Work begins to restore Village Pond in heart of Mountain Village

On Monday, Sept. 30, the Town of Mountain Village and Western Stream Works began work to restore the health of the Village Pond. Over the next several weeks, the pond will be completely drained, dredged and restored.

Village Pond was built in 1996 as a sediment retention pond with the rerouted Gorrono Creek as Telluride Ski Resort was developed. Waddell Creek also supplies the pond. Sediment has built up in the pond over the past 23 years and the pond’s health was being compromised.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to restore the health of the pond back to its original state,” said Public Works Director Finn Kjome.

Western Stream Works, an environmental restoration company based in Ridgway, is doing the mitigation work. Western Stream Works President Bill Coughlin originally helped build the pond for Telluride Ski Resort.

The project is permitted through the Army Corps of Engineers with oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Crews began draining the pond, adjacent to the Telluride Conference Center on Monday, Sept. 30. The week of Oct. 7 the sediment at the bottom of the pond will dry out and then an excavator will begin extracting the material the week of Oct. 14. The project will be staged from the Telluride Ski Resort gravel parking lot, with dump trucks hauling the sediment away.

The excavator will make the pond deeper to help the pond’s ecosystem. Once the excavation is finished, aerators will be installed at the bottom of the pond to maintain healthy oxygen levels and microbes will be added to the water to naturally prevent the buildup of algae.

Coughlin thanked residents and neighboring businesses for their patience during the construction time.

“The Village Pond is a beautiful, integral piece of the Village Center and we look forward to the completion of this crucial maintenance,” said Mountain Village Mayor Laila Benitez.

Neighbors can expect truck traffic, large machinery and equipment throughout the area during business hours through mid-November. Weather permitting, the project is expected to be completed by early to mid-November.

“There won’t be any detrimental impact on the existing wetlands,” Coughlin said. “We’re taking a very natural approach in this work.”

Project updates will be posted on the Town of Mountain Village’s Construction Updates Page. For questions, please contact Mountain Village Public Works at (970)728-5946.