Residents near Aurora Reservoir say loud droning noise coming from nearby fracking operation
People living in southeast Aurora are losing sleep due to a loud droning noise that suddenly began in the neighborhood, and they're worried a nearby fracking operation may be the cause.
It's been a long journey for residents who didn't want fracking near their homes or the Aurora Reservoir. They were successful in effectively stopping the installation of one well nearest to their homes, but other wells have been built and continue to be built. Now they are wondering if that's what's responsible for the strange noises they've heard overnight.
In a recording shared with CBS Colorado, the listener hears a loud, low drone. Neighbors say it's what many homeowners near the Aurora Reservoir have been woken up to this month. The person who made the recording says it was made on March 3, 2026, at 3:54 in the morning in that homeowner's bedroom. The video file's digital timestamp confirms the date and time of recording. Neighbors say it's hardly the only instance.
"Through the last 30 days, about 5 to 10 times, I've woken up in the middle of the night, most recently, about a couple times over the last week [at] 12:30 a.m., 1:30 a.m. I'm up for an hour, I'm up for 90 minutes," said homeowner Colin Westerfeld.
He is not the one who made the recording, but has lost sleep over the noise. He says it's been tough.
"We put on a white noise machine. We had to get it pretty loud, almost to where the noise machine is now keeping you up," said Westerfield.
He and many of his neighbors wonder if the sound is coming from oil and gas operations near the Aurora Reservoir. The Lowry Ranch project was approved back in 2024.
"This is really odd. This isn't, you know, someone's hot tub in the backyard or a generator or a heat pump. This is something I've never heard in six years, and it's loud," said Westerfield.
Since the beginning, Civitas, the operators of Lowry Ranch, have pledged to be good neighbors and to abide by all state rules and regulations, including those aimed at limiting noise.
As recently as 2025, a spokesperson for Civitas said, "We're especially proud of our design and utilization of the latest technologies to achieve and even exceed the State's and Arapahoe County's regulations, which remain among the strictest in the country."
Westerfeld can't help but wonder whether he and his family will continue to lose sleep over the noise and whether moving the wells would solve the problem.
"We're not opposed to oil and gas. But our perspective was, we understand that this is something that drives what we do, but shouldn't this be further away?" said Westerfield.
Westerfeld says the State of Colorado promised to look into his complaint the very next day, but he hasn't heard back on the results of that investigation. CBS Colorado did reach out to Civitas and the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission for a statement or update, but hasn't heard back as of the time of this story's publishing.