Environmental groups sue to overturn Larimer County’s NISP permit approval

FORT COLLINS — A trio of environmental groups is suing Larimer County and two of its recently-departed commissioners in an effort to reverse the county’s approval of the Northern Integrated Supply Project last fall.

In the suit filed in Larimer County District Court, No Pipe Dream Corp., Save Rural NoCo Corp. and the Save The Poudre group argue that the board ignored evidence of multiple adverse environmental impacts by redirecting some flow from the Poudre River into the two reservoirs that would be built in northern Larimer County and northern Weld County.

In particular, the groups claim the board ignored evidence that redirecting some of the river’s flow would cause significant water quality degradation in the Poudre and the wetlands along it, along with flooding a valley in the county that would displace wildlife. The board is also accused of ignoring alternative measures on siting the reservoirs or the water pipelines that are included in the project plans.

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The NISP is a proposal to store 215,000 acre-feet of water between two new reservoirs north of Fort Collins and northwest of Ault for 15 member cities along the Front Range. The project is expected to take eight years of construction, cost $1.1 billion and requires U.S. Highway 287 to be shifted to make way for one of the reservoirs.

While proponents say that water is critical for securing the growth of cities as the Front Range sees a boom in population, opponents argue that the project would cause irreversible damage to the ecology of the Poudre River.

The suit also argues the board infringed on the rights of the project’s opponents to lobby leaders by requiring them to make one joint presentation instead of allowing multiple members of the public to comment within a certain time limit.

Specifically named as co-defendants are former commissioners Tom Donnelly and Steve Johnson, both Republicans, who voted to approve the permit in one of the last major votes they took before leaving office due to term limits.

The coalition claims that Donnelly and Johnson’s long and public support for the project before the vote violated county rules over conflicts of interest, saying it amounted to a violation of the public trust.

In an email, Johnson called the lawsuit “total crap” and said he and Donnelly were no more biased for the project than Commissioner John Kefalas was in voting against it.

“All of our findings were based upon those criteria in the code, and we went over them in detail individually so I foresee absolutely no problem in defending the propriety of our actions,” he said.

In its own statement, Northern Water said its application fulfilled all of the criteria, and it had support from non-partisan staff and the county’s planning commission before the board of commissioners took its vote.

“The federal, state and local permitting processes have addressed the issues brought forth in this suit,” the water agency said.

Representatives for Larimer County did not respond to a request for comment Monday, which was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a county holiday. Donnelly declined to comment.

The lawsuit was not unexpected; Save the Poudre told BizWest that it intended to file suit shortly after the board’s vote.

Kefalas, then the lone vote against the permitting, is now the chairman of the board of commissioners after Kristin Stephens and Jody Shadduck-McNally won their elections in November and put the board solely under the control of Democratic members.

The Fort Collins City Council issued a resolution opposing the project last August over concerns that the reduced flows would hurt Poudre River Whitewater Park on the north side of town. Stephens, who was the council’s mayor pro tem before being elected to the county board, was absent and did not vote.

State officials approved the project late last January, which Save The Poudre appealed. The only authority yet to issue or deny a permit is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

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