Fishermen wait for a bite at the Aurora Reservoir. A plan to drill deep under the reservoir for oil and gas extraction is ready for public comment May 13. (File Photo by Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
AURORA | The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission is asking local residents to weigh in May 13 on the latest proposal for the A Civitas Lowry Ranch oil and gas development project southeast of Aurora.
The evening hearing will focus on the State Harvard/Yale and State Wetterhorn/Handies Oil and Gas Development Plan, the latest proposal tied to the previously approved Civitas Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan. The oil and gas development plan application recently passed the Energy and Carbon Management Commission’s “completeness phase” and is now open for community input.
No decisions will be made at the meeting. The public comments collected during the hearing will help form the commission’s final vote at a separate hearing scheduled for later this spring.
The Civitas Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan is 33,440 acres linked to multiple owners, according to the statement.
“Mineral ownership of the minerals within the Comprehensive Area Plan boundaries is split between federal minerals, state minerals and privately owned minerals,” referring to oil and gas, the statement said.
Documentation for the plan is posted at https://ecmc.state.co.us/permits4.html#/CAP.
The plan proposes drilling of up to 166 wells at eight locations through 2030. All drilling pads are on Lowry Ranch. The underground area being accessed stretches much farther because of horizontal drilling.
Local land owners and activists pushed back against much of the plan, especially requests to drill laterally deep beneath the Aurora reservoir. State officials granted oil companies that access last year.
“We are devastated by the commission’s decision to approve the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan,” Marsha Goldsmith Kamin, president of Save The Aurora Reservoir, said last year. “This is without doubt the wrong decision for the health, safety, and environment of our community.”
Officials from Crestone Peak Resources, a subsidiary of Civitas gas and oil, have pressed for approval of the project for almost two years. Colorado law now provides for some local say in gas and oil extraction projects, and the state has raised environmental requirements for extraction.
STAR officials, and their petroleum and geology experts, testified for months last year that there are known and unknown dangers to surface water, groundwater sources and the environment built into the Lowry Ranch project.
Despite that, the project was approved.
The Comprehensive Area Plan, however, was paused by a judge in January 2025 due to a legal dispute, not about the plan itself, but because one mineral owner was dismissed from participating in the process.
In April, the Energy and Carbon Management Commission is continuing to review new Oil and Gas Development Plans tied to the Lowry Comprehensive Area Plan because those individual applications are being evaluated on their own merits.
The Energy and Carbon Management Commission is the state body that regulates oil and gas development in Colorado. A Comprehensive Area Plan is a comprehensive, landscape-level, consultative process for planning and permitting locations for the production of oil and natural gas in Colorado, according to state officials.
The comprehensive plan precedes the Oil and Gas Development Plan, which is a process that requires energy development operators to seek approval from the Energy and Carbon Management Commission for each proposed drilling location.
An Oil and Gas Development Plan is a more detailed plan for each specific drilling project. It explains exactly where the drilling will happen and how many wells will be involved, and it includes emergency response plans and fire prevention. Every Oil and Gas Development Plan must follow the rules set by the earlier Comprehensive Area Plan.
Before a company can drill, the Energy and Carbon Management Commission must approve both the Comprehensive Area Plan and each Oil and Gas Development Plan.
The proposed drilling affects state, federal and private mineral rights and could shape oil and gas development in Aurora and surrounding areas for years, state officials and organized critics of the plan say.
The public hearing offers a chance for residents to speak directly to the commission about how this development may impact their communities, according to the statement.
For more information on the OGDP and to register for the hearing or submit a comment, visit ecmc.state.co.us.
The public hearing is scheduled 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Arapahoe Fairgrounds Main Hall, 25690 E. Quincy Ave. Residents are encouraged to offer comments at the event. Residents can also submit written comments via the Management Commission’s eFiling system, referencing Docket No. 240800192.
Spanish interpretation, light refreshments and a children’s play area will be available.
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