Vision Land Consultants

Vision Land Consultants, Inc. has been involved in the project from the initial due diligence research period, through the annexation process, and overall site design. Vision Land engineers designed a complex series of lakes with a water circulation system while maintaining a storm drainage system separated from the irrigation system. Designs for a golf course irrigation system, and a domestic potable water storage facility were prepared. Working closely with sub consultants such as land planners Norris Dullea and golf course architects Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates, this project is destined to be the talk of the Vail Valley for years to come.

Vision Land is the prime consultant and infrastructure design firm for the Brightwater Club Project located on the western slope and 2-miles south of Gypsum, Colorado. The site is currently a working cattle ranch with no improved roads, drainage systems or Town services. Visible, moving water is one of the primary themes for this project. In addition to designing two miles of sanitary sewer main to the Town of Gypsum and designs for two million gallons of water storage and a 16-inch transmission line for improved services for the site and surrounding developments, Vision Land has designed a combined water feature/storm water detention and water quality system within the site. The system includes a series of ten hydraulically connected lakes to be fed by storm water runoff and senior water rights from Gypsum Creek. The lakes will be utilized as a source of surface storage for the Towns water supply (38-acre feet) and irrigation for the 27-hole Arthur Hills/ Steve Forrest golf course; the lakes will be enhanced with constructed wetlands, aquatic life and elaborate overflow and discharge structures. Two major irrigation ditches with water rights owned by downstream users traverse the site. Irrigation ditch stability designs must fit into the community and golf course in an aesthetic and safe manor, the irrigation ditch designs must ensure a level of water quality that meets or exceeds the down stream users expectations. The onsite storm drainage system has been designed separately from the irrigation system and consists primarily of surface flows to the sixteen miles of roadside ditches (avoiding discharge of runoff to the golf course) which convey flows to the lake system or directly to Gypsum Creek. A master drainage study has been completed for the site, which encompasses Hardscrabble Gulch with an estimated 100-year flow of 539 cfs and Grundell Creek with 100-year flows of 638 cfs. Hardscrabble Gulch and Grundell Creek discharge directly into the site and present debris flow issues and concerns with respect to property and personal safety for Brightwater Club’s residents. Debris flow basins, channel stabilization measures and temporary and permanent erosion control system designs are an integral part of the Brightwater Club design process. Gypsum Creek runs contiguously with the sites westerly edge for approximately one mile. All onsite runoff and lake discharge flows will be introduced into the creek’s pristine riparian environment thus requiring state-of-the-art bank stabilization and erosion control measures that blend in with the natural environment. The Brightwater Club site is located outside the jurisdiction of the UD&FCD; however, the Town of Gypsum complied with Vision Land’s recommendation to design all drainage systems, irrigation ditches and lake connectivity systems in accordance with the applicable UD&FCD criteria.