NISP opponents file appeal against state sign-off

BERTHOUD — A group fighting the creation of the Northern Integrated Supply Project is appealing the state of Colorado’s approval of the massive water retention project by the Berthoud-based Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District.

In a request for a hearing sent to state officials this week, the Save the Poudre committee argues the river is already overdrawn from demand by nearby cities and farms and suffering from poor water quality. It said that the state’s permit doesn’t require enough stringent monitoring for signs of the river’s health.

If the NISP project is built, the committee argues it would irreversibly harm local aquatic wildlife.

“The Cache la Poudre River is in dire need of restoration, not further flow depletion,” it said in its filing.

The NISP would store 215,000 acre-feet of water between the Glade Reservoir north of Fort Collins and the Galeton Reservoir northeast of Ault and transfer it to 15 cities on the Front Range. The $1.1 billion project would also shift several miles of U.S. Highway 287 to make way for the Glade Reservoir.

Supporters say that water is critical for the region’s expected population growth over the next several decades, but its opponents argue it would diminish the flow of the Poudre River and cause harm to ecosystems downstream.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment signed off on the NISP in late January, saying while the project could “cause or contribute to long-term water quality impacts,” the member cities that would draw from the reservoirs could mitigate that by monitoring for bacteria, sediment and runoff material that could harm humans in contact with the river.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to file its opinion on the project by June, and Larimer County officials are currently processing Northern Water’s application.

In a prepared statement, Northern Water spokesman Jeff Stahla did not directly comment on the appeal, but said there will be extensive monitoring of the river over the life of the project.

“Northern Water and the NISP participants submitted extensive documentation in our application to demonstrate our commitment to high water quality in the Poudre River. That commitment will extend for decades through the conditions agreed to by NISP participants,” he said.

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