Email this article
Printable version
Red-hot greenhouse
Geothermal heat to help grow vegetables in Pagosa
Herald Staff Writer
Photo by NICK MANNING/Herald
Hot water, seen here at The Springs Resort, is ubiquitous in Pagosa Springs and soon will be used to heat community gardens contained in geodesic domes.
Click image to enlarge
NICK MANNING/Herald
An artist’s concept shows the project, which includes four geodesic domes.
NICK MANNING/Herald
An artist’s concept shows the project, which includes four geodesic domes.
Michael Whiting, director of the Southwest Land
Alliance, on Wednesday points to where proposed geothermally heated greenhouses will be in downtown Pagosa Springs.
Project to tap into town system
By Dale Rodebaugh
Herald Staff Writer
PAGOSA SPRINGS – The geothermal greenhouse project being developed here by private and public interests will tap into the geothermal heating system owned and operated by the town since 1982.
In Colorado, hot springs water falls under the same regulations as any other type of water. It belongs to the state and requires water-court sanction to use.
Pagosa Springs has long-time water rights that adhere to the state code – first in time, first in line.
The greenhouse project won approval as an enterprise-zone project by the Colorado Economic Development Commission, said Laura Lewis with the agency’s regional office in Durango. The designation makes contributions to the project eligible for a 25 percent state tax credit for cash donations and a 12.5 percent state tax credit for in-kind donations.
Southwest Colorado is home to 31 Economic Development Commission enterprise projects, Lewis said. The goal
of the geothermal greenhouse is to demonstrate the viability of geothermal energy, provide an educational resource and support local organic food growers.
The enterprise-zone tax credit was approved by the Legislature in 1986 to help economically weak areas. Region 9 encompasses Archuleta, Montezuma, San Juan and Dolores counties and portions of La Plata County are considered economically distressed.
A greenhouse project coordinated by the Southwest Land Alliance that will use geothermal water to heat earth in 12,000 square feet of geodesic domes is targeted to break ground in the fall if funding is available.
We'll be able to grow crops year-round, and by adding a solar system to extend daylight hours, we could grow tropical fruit.
- Michael Whiting, director, Southwest Land Alliance
"The idea of using geothermal heat in greenhouses has been floated for 20 years," Michael Whiting, director of the land trust, said during a tour of the garden site last week. "We'll be able to grow crops year-round, and by adding a solar system to extend daylight hours, we could grow tropical fruit.
"Current circumstances - weak economy, high cost of fuel, interest in renewable energy and a shift in the national culture - could mean it's the right time."
A Web site of the Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation lists only one other site in Colorado where greenhouses are heated with geothermal energy - a grower of potted plants near Mount Princeton.
The project here will consist of four or five greenhouses on 2 acres donated by the town in Centennial Park at the confluence of the San Juan River and McCabe Creek.
Mineral springs in the region were treasured for therapeutic qualities by Native American tribes centuries before the site was discovered by military expeditions, miners and other settlers who arrived in the 1860s. Today, the water that gushes from artesian wells at temperatures of 130 to 150 degrees has been harnessed for other purposes.
Because mineralized water can't be used in distribution pipes, the town operates a heat-exchange system. The system strips heat from the mineralized water and transfers it to a fresh-water loop into which customers tap.
About 40 businesses and public buildings, including schools and the Archuleta County courthouse, already are tied into the system, Town Manager David Mitchem said. Other businesses, including spas, have their own geothermal systems, he said. The town recovers its costs on the system, which dates to 1982, Mitchem said. It's not intended to be a money maker. Town customers, who are on meters, pay 60 cents a therm, but the greenhouse project will not be charged.
The cost of the greenhouses as well as space for packaging and warehousing exceeds $500,000, with about $300,000 contained in the federal 2010 appropriations bill, Whiting said. Local businesses have pledged free in-kind contributions.
Overseeing the community project will be a five-member steering committee - Whiting, Mayor Ross Aragon, county planner Rick Bellis, bakery owner Kathy Keyes and Tamra Allen, a former town planner and assistant manager who now works for San Juan Bioenergy in Dove Creek. Whiting envisions a cooperative to handle nitty-gritty details such as how to divvy up growing space.
"Geothermal heat has been used for thousands of years, but it's under-utilized in Pa-gosa Springs," Allen said. "The greenhouses are one way to use renewable energy in a creative manner."
Partners with the Southwest Land Alliance in the project are Archuleta County; the town of Pagosa Springs; Growing Spaces, a manufacturer of geodesic domes; the Pagosa Area Water & Sanitation District; Hart Construction; the Civil Design Team; Pagosa Baking Co.; Appraisal Services Inc.; and Colorado Land Title.
advertisement
Durango Herald Calendar of Events
