LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — The Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District is working with the City of Lakewood to repair bridges at Ravines Open Space.

It’s a city park, but Green Mountain owns the bridges because their sewage pipes run underneath.

Due to severe erosion along the park trail, some of the bridges are in danger of collapsing, according to GMWSD. If the bridge collapses, the wastewater pipe underneath will break and release raw sewage into the Bear Creek drainage system.

GMWSD said at a meeting Tuesday, they are willing to pay to repair the bridges however, they need help from the city.

“GMWSD has demonstrated a willingness to cover costs that we didn’t agree with, to do right by our residents and the environment. We have shown we will do everything we can. What we cannot do is turn our water district into a park district. We have reached our limit – legal and liability issues prevent us from operating park facilities,” said Karen Morgan, director at GMWSD

At the meeting, GMWSD and the city agreed to keep the north bridge near S. Welch Circle open as it is in the best shape and used most often by pedestrians.

In a statement, the City of Lakewood said:

“We are looking forward to working with Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District on the issues surrounding the district’s three structures, which are in Lakewood’s Ravines Open Space. The district owns the structures and has the authority over their use. We are asking the district to leave the farthest north structure open to pedestrians because we know how important it is to the neighborhood as a safe route to commute to the adjacent schools. Because the middle structure is unsafe, we are focused on working collaboratively with the district in its restoration plans and to resolve the issues that residents have raised.

City of Lakewood

A timeline to fix the other two bridges is still in the works.