Infrastructure
TECH INFRASTRUCTURE – FIBER TO BUSINESS AND HOME
The City of Cortez has implemented fiber throughout Cortez. Businesses can get up to 10 GBPS broadband. There are currently two fiber routes in and out of Cortez for redundancy and by the fourth quarter of 2023 there will be an additional route to Salt Lake City.
Cortez hosts the only carrier neutral Data Center on the Western Slope. The Data Center has in place 100+ GBRS capacity to Denver via dual path redundant fiber paths. The neutral meet-me room facility offers multiple internet service providers to grow your business. Internet peering is also available for quick and secure cloud connections.
For further information contact the City’s Fiber Office: Cortez Fiber Office
General Services Director: Rick Smith 970-565-7320 Email Rick Smith
UTILITIES
WATER - Located over the Dolores River is the grand McPhee Reservoir. Taking a massive space of around 4,470 surface acres, this is indeed one of Colorado’s largest lakes. The dam is 1,300 feet in length and 30 feet wide. As far as its crest goes, it stands 270 feet above the stream bed.
The creation of this reservoir was a result of the construction of Great Cut Dike and McPhee Dam in a saddle. Plenty of boating options are here, stop by Doc’s Marina for rentals. If you’re really keen to show your family how grand a dam can be, this one certainly deserves attention. It’s located in Dolores in Southwest Colorado near Cortez.
McPhee Reservoir can hold up to 381,000 acre-feet when full at 6,924 ft in elevation.
The capacity of the reservoir is divided up into three parts:
▪ Dead Pool – 100 acre-feet
▪ Inactive Capacity – 152,000 acre-feet
▪ Active Capacity – 229,000 acre-feet
CITY WATER -
Cortez is blessed with the high-quality Dolores River water out of McPhee Reservoir with which to begin the water treatment process. All water processed by the treatment plant is from McPhee Reservoir. The water distribution system is planned and sized to provide for home and business uses, as well as fire protection. The minimum size distribution line installed in residential areas is a 6” line. Commercial area and feeder lines are usually 8” or 12” diameter lines.
WASTEWATER
All sewer line maintenance and installation are the responsibility of the Cortez Sanitation District, a separate entity from the City of Cortez. Contact information is as follows:
Cortez Sanitation District
2908 South Broadway (Hwy 160/491)
PO Box 730
Cortez, CO 81321
Ph: 970-565-3962
Fax: 970-565-7880
ELECTRIC – Empire Electric
EEA purchases power from Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. Tri-State supplies EEA with a 230,000 volt transmission line that comes from the Nucla/Montrose area. Tri-State’s transmission system passes through EEA’s service area to La Plata Electric Association’s service area to the east of EEA and that provides another layer of reliability. To further enhance reliability on the western side of our territory, EEA began constructing a transmission interconnection in the Monticello Utah area in 2022 and it will be in service by late spring 2023.
EEA buys our power from Tri-State, so for the most part, the Tri-State renewable generation mix is also EEA’s. Tri-State had a minimum of 20% renewable generation in 2021 as required by Colorado law and their Responsible Energy Plan will have them at 50% by 2024.
NATURAL GAS – ATMOS Energy
The country’s largest natural gas-only distributor, Atmos Energy safely delivers reliable, affordable, efficient, and abundant natural gas to more than 3 million distribution customers in over 1,400 communities across eight states.
AIRPORT-
Cortez Municipal Airport sits at 5,914 feet above sea level between Mesa Verde National Park and Ute Mountain and provides Commercial and General Aviation services seven days a week with limited operating hours. Denver Air Connection provides commercial flights to Denver International Airport and Phoenix Sky-Harbor International Airport and has interline agreements with both United and American Airlines. A full-service Fixed Base Operator (FBO), Cortez Flying Service, can be reached at 970-565-3721. The FBO is located at midfield. Jet-A and 100LL fuels are provided. For more information please visit the Cortez Airport website.