BERTHOUD – Above average regional water storage coupled with above average snowpack prompted the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District board to increase its 2020 quota allocation for the Colorado-Big Thompson Project to 70%.
The board unanimously approved the allocation at its meeting Thursday, which was held via video to comply with state stay-at-home orders as part of the global coronavirus outbreak.
Luke Shawcross, manager of the Water Resources Department at Northern Water, outlined snowpack and forecasted streamflows and discussed the available water supplies in regional reservoirs.
When setting the quota, the board considers current regional reservoir storage levels, forecasted snowpack runoff, availability of water within the C-BT system and public input.
The board has been setting the C-BT quota since 1957, and 70% is the most common quota declared. It was also the quota set for the 2019 water delivery season.
The quota increases available C-BT Project water supplies by 62,000 acre-feet from the initial 50% quota made available in November. Water from the C-BT Project supplements other sources 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.