Northern Water to sponsor exhibit at planned Northern Colorado children’s museum

LOVELAND —Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District has committed $100,000 a year for the next five years to sponsor a water-education exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Northern Colorado.

The money will be used to develop an interactive exhibit to teach children and their families the role of water in the West, and the challenges the region faces with differing demands on the supply.

“We are incredibly grateful for this partnership with Northern Water,” Ryan Howard, executive director of the Children’s Museum of Northern Colorado, said in a news release. “It’s vital that our communities understand our unique water supply systems. CMNC would feel incomplete without an exhibit to engage future generations of water policy makers. We could ask for no better partner than Northern Water.”

The Children’s Museum of Northern Colorado is a 501(c)3 organization working to open the region’s first children’s museum. The museum is expected to open in mid-2025 near the Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 34 interchange. The plan is for a 19,500-square-foot building with 10,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space.

A key component of the Northern Water exhibit will be a water table that shows visitors the challenges this region faces in water, with demands of sharing water across urban, agricultural, environmental, and recreational uses, the release stated.

“Water education is critical for understanding the water supply infrastructure and issues in Northern Colorado. The Children’s Museum Water Exhibit will provide an excellent, hands-on learning experience about Northern Water’s role in our regional water supply,” said Bill Emslie, president of the Municipal Subdistrict Board of Directors, in the release. “This sponsorship is a major milestone in the museum’s capital campaign and brings the Children’s Museum of Northern Colorado one step closer to becoming a cherished community resource for families throughout the region.”

For more information go to www.childrensmuseumnoco.org.