Agribusiness  June 19, 2015

Army Corps of Engineers releases impact statement for NoCo reservoir project

BERTHOUD — The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday released a supplemental draft environmental impact statement for a controversial Northern Colorado water project – although completion of the two reservoirs still could be nearly a decade away.

Officials at Berthoud-based Northern Water, which manages water distribution from the Colorado-Big Thompson project to municipalities and agricultural interests throughout northern and northeastern Colorado, hailed the Corps’ nearly 1,500-page report on the Northern Integrated Supply Project, or NISP, as “one of the most extensive and intensive reviews of a water project ever undertaken in Colorado.”

“I think it shows that our preferred alternative can be built,” said Brian Werner, public information officer for Northern Water. “We certainly think we can mitigate the impacts, and we’re pleased that we’ve finally gotten to this point after six years of the supplemental, which has been excruciating in some ways.

“We’re confident that we’re going to get to a point in Northern Colorado that we get more reservoirs that are sorely needed and take care of the environment instead of losing all that water that goes out of state,” he said.

If approved, NISP would include construction of the Glade and Galeton reservoirs, which combined could store more than 215,000 acre-feet of water, 40,000 of which would be allocated to municipal water supplies annually. Glade Reservoir, which would be larger than Horsetooth Reservoir west of Fort Collins, would be built north of the intersection of U.S. Highway 287 and Colorado Highway 14 northwest of Fort Collins and would hold up to 170,000 acre-feet of water diverted from the Cache la Poudre River. Galeton Reservoir would be built east of Ault and Eaton in Weld County and hold up to 45,000 acre-feet of South Platte River water.

Opponents have said the project would drain water from the Poudre as it flows through Fort Collins, limiting opportunities for recreation that include tubing, whitewater kayaking and fishing. To address those concerns, which were expressed during a number of public hearings, the impact statement includes a proposed mitigation plan illustrating how NISP participants will provide additional water to the Poudre during low flows, build low-flow and fish-friendly bypass structures at key sites on the river through Fort Collins, and implement river restoration measures.

However, Gary Wockner, executive director of Save the Poudre, said the public needs more than the specified 45 days to review the voluminous document. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., whose district includes Fort Collins, recommended a 120-day review period, Wockner said, adding that “I think that’s a good start.

“We have quickly reviewed the important section of the document,” Wockner said. “The proposal is the same, to further drain and destroy the Poudre through Fort Collins. We are still committed to fighting and stopping the project, as long as it takes.

“We’ve proposed alternatives that focus on water conservation and efficiency, and sharing water with farmers. One of the many problems with the document we see now is that the Corps dismissed our proposal.”

The Corps and Northern Water will hear public comments at 5 p.m. open houses and 6 p.m. hearings scheduled for July 22 at the Hilton Fort Collins, 425 W. Prospect Road, and July 23 at the Weld County Administration Building, 1150 O St. in Greeley. Comments also can be submitted in writing to John Urbanic, NISP EIS project manager, in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Denver regulatory office, 9307 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, CO 80128. Comments can be emailed to nisp.eis@usace.army.mil.

What’s next for Northern Water? “We wait for the public hearings in July and all the comments the Corps will look at,” Werner said. “They’ll issue a final EIS in 2016, and we should get a decision from them in 2017.”

If the project is approved, he said, design would take another year and a half, then three or four years more for construction. “That would mean completion in 2023, 2024, something like that,” Werner said.

About 880,000 people live within Northern Water boundaries, which encompass 1.6 million acres in portions of eight counties including Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld.

BERTHOUD — The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday released a supplemental draft environmental impact statement for a controversial Northern Colorado water project – although completion of the two reservoirs still could be nearly a decade away.

Officials at Berthoud-based Northern Water, which manages water distribution from the Colorado-Big Thompson project to municipalities and agricultural interests throughout northern and northeastern Colorado, hailed the Corps’ nearly 1,500-page report on the Northern Integrated Supply Project, or NISP, as “one of the most extensive and intensive reviews of a water project ever undertaken in Colorado.”

“I think it…

Dallas Heltzell
With BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, Dallas worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A Missouri native and Mizzou School of Journalism grad, Dallas started as a sports writer and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He especially loves covering our mountain communities.
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