Corps releases analysis of water plan
$1.1 billion reservoir system would supply 15 communities, districts
A project that would draw water from the Cache la Poudre River and create a reservoir the size of Horsetooth northwest of Fort Collins passed a major milestone Friday with the release of the final environmental impact statement.
The Army Corps of Engineers’ 1,400page analysis lays out the anticipated direct and indirect impacts of the Northern Integrated Supply Project, a $1.1 billion waterstorage system designed to supply 15 communities and water districts in northern Colorado.
The proposal from the Berthoudbased Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District — Northern Water — would result in the 170,000acrefoot Glade Reservoir northwest of Fort Collins, filled from the Poudre River, and 45,600acrefoot Upper Galeton Reservoir near Ault in northern Weld County, filled by the South Platte River.
The system would supply 40,000 acrefeet of water per year to the participating entities. The cities of Loveland and Fort Collins aren’t among the 15 partners, but the Fort CollinsLoveland Water District, which supplies customers north of Loveland and within south Fort Collins, is.
Friday’s release starts a 45day comment period, the final opportunity for opponents and proponents to submit their views before the Corps of Engineers registers its final decision, which is expected next year.
The release was met quickly with reaction.
Republican congressman Ken Buck, whose 4th District covers many of the communities involved, released a statement Friday morning praising the impact statement.
“For Northern Colorado, proper water stewardship and storage is vital to our agriculture, recreation and economy. While it’s unfortunate that overly complex government permitting regulations have held up NISP for this long, I am extremely encouraged that this final impact statement will soon allow Northern Colorado to have a more certain supply of water,” Buck said.
Ten minutes later, Gary Wockner, director of the Save The Poudre organization, sent his own release denouncing the project.
“Although 15 years has passed by, nothing has changed — the project would still dramatically reduce river flows and have huge negative impacts on the river,” he said in the release.
Wockner said his organization would ask the Corps of Engineers to extend the comment period, “and then our team of scientists and attorneys will dig in for our summer of reading.”
In anticipation of the Corps of Engineers’ release, the city of Fort Collins issued a statement Thursday indicating that city representatives would submit comments on the environmental impact statement.
“The comments will examine NISP’s impacts on river health and city assets and explore ways to lessen NISP’s impacts through mitigation and longterm river management,” the statement said.
The 15 participants include towns and water suppliers along the Northern Front Range and in northeastern Colorado: Windsor, Evans, Eaton, Severance, Erie, Lafayette, Fires tone, Frederick, Dacono, Fort Lupton, Fort Morgan, Fort CollinsLoveland Water District, Left Hand Water District, Central Weld County Water District and Morgan County Quality Water District.
A release from Northern Water, which began the permitting process in 2004, said the project includes protections for the Poudre River.
“The operation of the project would include minimum guaranteed stream flows through downtown Fort Collins, bypass of peak flows in most years, improvements to stream channel and riparian areas along the Poudre River and establishment of a recreation complex at Glade Reservoir,” the release said.
Chris Smith, general manager of the Left Hand Water District and chairman of the NISP Participants Committee, said in the release that the 15 partners have “put together one of the most robust mitigation and enhancement plans ever.”
In an interview Friday afternoon, Brian Werner, public information officer for Northern Water, said the report held no surprises.
“It’s pretty much what we expected. It shows that the project can, and, we believe, will be built,” he said.
The water conservancy district is getting ready to submit a water quality certification application with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Envi ronment, he said. That certification is required before the Corps of Engineers can issue its record of decision, he said.
Beyond that, Northern Water is working through agreements with Larimer County and two ditch companies, Werner said.
The project would include five pump stations and 85 miles of pipeline to carry the water to the participants as well as to some farmers in the Poudre River basin, according to the release.
If the project receives final approval, construction could start in late 2021 or early 2022, Werner said, and water could begin flowing into Glade Reservoir in 2026.
Glade Reservoir would have a capacity of 170,000 acrefeet, in comparison with Horsetooth Reservoir’s 156,000 acrefeet, he said. In terms of surface area, Horsetooth covers 1,900 acres, and Glade would cover 1,700, he said.
Northern Water would be able to draw from the Poudre only when holders of more senior water rights have taken the water because of them, Werner said. That would happen when the river is running high with snowmelt — mostly in May and June, and possibly in April and July, he said.
In his release opposing the project, Save The Poudre’s Wockner quoted figures from the Corps of Engineers’ report that said Northern Water’s “preferred alternative would drain 45 percent of the water out of the river in May during highflow periods and 39 percent of the water in June, the two peak flow months in downtown Fort Collins.”
“These impacts would occur exactly where the city of Fort Collins will begin construction of a new whitewater park this fall,” Wockner said in the release.
Werner agreed that the project would take out a large amount of water when the river is high, but he said Northern Water’s plan also would leave more water in the Poudre during low periods.
Werner explained that the system would include a pipeline from Glade Reservoir that would return water to a 12mile stretch of the river through Fort Collins and take the water back out downstream of the city.
At one point last month, the river was flowing at only 3 cubic feet per second in downtown Fort Collins, he said. The proposal includes a plan to add 25 cubic feet per second to the Poudre during the summer and 18 cfs in the winter, he said.
“We certainly believe we’re going to be able to improve the river, definitely at lowflow times,” he said.
The project is critical to Northern Colorado because of the area’s continued high population growth, Werner said.
“The state’s at 5.6 million people, and they say we’re going to get to 8 or 9 or 10,” he said. “We’re right square in the bull’seye of the fastestgrowing area of Colorado, and these people are going to need water.”
The Army Corps of Engineers’ impact statement examined four watersupply options, plus a fifth “do nothing” option.
According to Northern Water, the analysis “considered the impact of removing irrigation water from nearly 100 square miles of land in Northern Colorado, which, the FEIS illustrates, would occur if NISP is not approved.”
The entire final environmental impact statement and attached technical reports are available online at nwo.usace.army.mil/ Missions/RegulatoryProgram/Colorado/EISNISP, as are the draft impact statement from 2008 and supplemental draft impact statement from 2015.