Amendments to be made to SB 114, fire suppression pond bill

A bill that would allow illegal ponds to remain undrained in order for the water to be used for wildfire suppression got its first hearing in the past week in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

Senate Bill 114 would allow those ponds to remain, given that the alternative is that they be ordered drained by the State Engineer, since they’re unpermitted.

The bill only applies to ponds that can be accessed by firefighting vehicles; those that don’t have that access could still be ordered drained, Senator Dennis Hisey, R-Colorado Springs, told this reporter.

The number of unper...