Confluence: Regional alliances essential to address water challenges
LOVELAND — Northern Colorado communities should develop greater regional cooperation and alliances to address water challenges posed by population growth, natural disasters and scarcity.
That’s according to speakers at a “Regional Alliances” panel at Confluence: the Colorado Water Summit, a BizWest conference that took place Thursday at the Forge campus in Loveland.
The session was moderated by Ella Fahrlander, chief engagement officer for the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado.
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Brad Wind, general manager of Northern Water, noted that regional cooperation has existed for decades, as evidenced by projects such as the Colorado-Big Thompson and Windy Gap projects.
“We should celebrate in our region what we have in the ground to date,” Wind said. “We should celebrate that plumbing that’s in the ground, north to south, east to west.”
Berthoud-based Northern Water — the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District — supports a population of 1.1 million with rapid population growth expected in the coming decades.
Wind noted that Northern Water maintains pipelines as far east as Fort Morgan, with “thousands of interconnects” between utilities in Northern Colorado.
But Wind said that increased regionalization would help communities address challenges that would be impossible to address individually, including escalating water prices, floods and the impact of wildfires on the watershed.
Sean Chambers, director of water and sewer for the city of Greeley, noted that agricultural lands increasingly are being converted to urban uses, as farmers sell land or water rights for development.
“The transition from agricultural to urban is profound,” Chambers said, with impacts including loss of open space and loss of agricultural identity and heritage.
Communities also must balance the need for economic growth with regional cooperation.
“This is a delicate balance to walk,” he said.
Chambers said that some efforts at regionalization are limited by current water law, which can lack flexibility in how water resources can be shared. That can restrict how communities can serve one another in times of disaster, he said.
Fort Collins mayor Jeni Ardt suggested a “mini sort of water congress,” that would develop policy and legislative priorities for the region. That group could meet quarterly or semi-annually, she said, with local, state and federal legislators, educators and policy-makers.
“I do think there could be an opportunity,” she said.
“It would be quite an undertaking, but I don’t think that should deter us,” she added.
Windsor town manager Shane Hale noted that much of the region’s current water infrastructure was created in the early 1900s. Halligan Reservoir on the north fork of the Poudre River northwest of Fort Collins was built in the early 1900s, he noted, with Seaman Reservoir created in the 1940s.
While larger communities such as Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland began developing their water resources many decades ago, communities such as Windsor are now “in the bullseye of growth,” he said.
“We come to the group a little bit hat in hand,” he said, noting that Windsor first joined the Northern Integrated Supply Project 17 years ago, with that project still working its way through regulatory and legal challenges.
Communities such as Windsor rely on their neighbors to undertake significant water projects, he said.
“It’s impossible to do so without our partners at the table,” he said.
Hale noted that the price of water — a unit of CBT now costs $60,000 per unit — has skyrocketed.
“It’s almost like Bitcoin,” he said.
Members of the audience encouraged the panelists to pursue greater regional collaboration.
“Let’s stop talking about it. Let’s do it,” said Michael Pruznick, a board member with the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District.
Wellington town administrator Patti Garcia said any regional effort should include smaller communities that might lack the resources of larger municipalities.
“I really would like to see some of us be able to be at the table with the Loveland, Greeley, Fort Collins, Windsor groups,” she said.
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