Pipeline project clears first hurdle
10-mile water line receives initial OK from Larimer County but draws ire from some farmers
The Larimer County Planning Commission this week recommended approval of a request from the city of Thornton to build a 10-mile water transmission line, a measure that could send Poudre River water to the north Denver suburb some day in the future.
But the vote was not unanimous. Siding with several public commenters, three commissioners voted against the project over concerns about negative impact to properties along its path from the Water Supply and Storage Company Reservoir No. 3 northeast of Fort Collins to the Larimer-weld county line.
“I don’t think in our decision criteria we’ve taken enough consideration in this application to look at agriculture,” commissioner Conor Duffy said prior to his no vote. “Now I think we are going to have major issues with our agriculture industry during the time that this pipeline is put in.”
The controversial project dates back to the 1980s when Thornton secured the rights to 14,000 acre feet of water from the Poudre River for future use. Now that future is here, and, with 200,000 new residents expected in Thornton in the coming decades, the urgency of getting water from Larimer County to Thornton is rising, city representatives told the commissioners.
The Larimer County segment of the proposed 70-mile pipeline is the final piece to the puzzle, and one that the city of Thornton has had trouble fitting into place. In 2018, the city filed its first 1041 request, which is required for projects that involve multiple jurisdictions.
The application was rejected by the Larimer County Commissioners for falling short of land use regulations, a decision later upheld in district court after Thornton appealed.
For its second attempt, Thornton decided to change to an ask questions-first approach, communication director Todd Barnes told planning commissioners. Thornton staffers held public events and met with property owners in the project area to allay concerns and find ways to mitigate impacts of the pipeline.
That approach resulted in the latest iteration of the proposal. Starting at the WSSC reservoir in Larimer County, the 42-inch steel transmission line would run southeast to Larimer County Road 56, then south next to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad to County Road 52, then east under Interstate 25 to the Weld County line, where it would connect to the next water line segment.
Thornton also plans to build a 10,000-square-foot pumping station for the pipeline.
When completed, the new transmission line would be capable of transporting 40 million gallons of water per day. However, the project would not remove any additional water from the Poudre, project coordinators said.
Thornton’s shares have been diverted for more than 100 years
at a point west of Fort Collins and used mostly for agriculture.
The new and improved version of Thornton’s proposal passed a review by the county’s development services team, which determined that the project met all 22 of its land use criteria and provided sufficient mitigation of its impacts. However, staff planners put 75 conditions on the project should it move forward.
On the other side of the argument were several residents who live in or near the future project zone and object to Thornton’s plan. Among the most vocal were local farmers, who decried the disruption and potential damage that the pipeline construction will have on their properties.
Instead of the pipeline, they would like to see Thornton take its shares of Poudre River water from a point east of Larimer County, so it doesn’t have to be transported from the west.
Those arguments were persuasive to at least some of the commissioners, but, ultimately, a majority found it hard to argue with conclusions in the county development staff’s report. Thornton’s efforts to modify its approach and talk to Larimer County residents during the process also was discussed.
“I thought it was a really thoughtful approach in terms of how they went about doing this, with the survey, the public outreach, the ranking, and taking into account and looking at what had been previously approved,” said Patrick Rowe, Planning Commission vice chair. “… For me, I felt they met the standard.”
With a Planning Commission recommendation in hand, Thornton and its 1041 permit request now face a final decision on the project from the Board of County Commissioners on April 22.