Dry weather leads Northern Water to raise quota

The board of directors for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District on Friday raised the amount of water allocated to farmers and cities from the Colorado-Big Thompson Project.

Board members settled on a 70 percent quota for 2015 as mountain snowpacks have declined. That means water unit holders will receive 70 percent of the water units allotted to them.

C-BT Project storage is at an all-time high for April 1, and water levels at local reservoirs are also above normal.

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Directors based their decision on the need for supplemental water for the coming year, while balancing project operations and maintaining water storage for future dry years.

Northern Water manages the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, which delivers an average of 200,000 acre feet of water annually, most of it coming from melting snow in the upper Colorado River basin. An acre-foot is equal to about 326,000 gallons of water and covers the water needs of about 2.5 families of four for one year.

C-BT supplements other sources of water for 33 cities and towns, 120 agricultural irrigation companies, various industries and other water users within Northern Water’s 1.6 million-acre service area.

Friday’s decision increased available C-BT water supplies by 20 percent from the initial 50 percent quota made available in November. The water district’s board agreed on a 60 percent quota last spring.

The Board considered comments from farmers and municipal water providers as well as streamflow forecasts, which have declined since the beginning of March to below average in C-BT watersheds.

Snowpack in those watersheds have declined to 15 percent below average in April from above average March 1. March precipitation throughout Northern Water’s boundaries amounted to only 21 percent of average.

Directors also considered the drought throughout much of the American West and the potential for a dry spring or summer. Board members have the option to increase the quota in future months if needed.