Another water project option surfaces

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

The Northern Integrated Supply Project, which could include a new Glade Reservoir north of LaPorte, is moving ahead on schedule.

In September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the four alternatives that will be considered for the project, including a possible Cactus Hill Reservoir east of Interstate 25. The Cactus Hill site was considered early on in the process, and it resurfaced during the Corps' review.

Cactus Hill Reservoir would be located on Anheuser-Busch property now used for agriculture. It would be sized at 180,000 to 200,000 acre-feet, compared with the Glade proposal of 170,000 acre-feet.

The final Environmental Impact Statement, which has been in process for two and one-half years, is expected to be finished late this year or early in 2007, according to Nicole Seltzer of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which is coordinating the project. Sixteen water districts and municipalities in northern Colorado are part of the project.

Once the EIS is released, a 60-day comment period will be set and public meetings will be scheduled. Larimer County also plans to review the project and issue comments.

The four alternatives are as follows: a combination of Glade Reservoir north of LaPorte and Galeton Reservoir northeast of Greeley; Cactus Hill Reservoir and Galeton; Glade or Cactus Hill combined with a smaller Galeton Reservoir and transfers of water rights from agricultural to municipal use; and no action.

Seltzer said the alternative NCWCD still prefers is the Glade/Galeton combination. However, she noted, the final decision is up to the Corps. One concern about the Cactus Hill site, she said, is that it has been used by A-B to dump effluent from the Budweiser brewery. The heavy nutrient content in the soil could cause water quality problems in a reservoir, she noted.

The Corps has also narrowed options for the relocation of U.S. Highway 287, in case Glade Reservoir is built. The two remaining options both use an existing road on property formerly used for Holcim Inc.'s cement plant. The western alignment crosses a hogback and rejoins the current U.S. 287 north of the Glade Reservoir site. The northern route would continue toward Owl Canyon and tie into U.S. 287 farther north.

Recently, NCWCD received decrees for the water rights needed for NISP. A water right that originally would have allowed storage at a Poudre River main-stem reservoir, called Grey Mountain, was changed to alternate locations including Glade. NCWCD also obtained a decree to divert water from the Poudre and South Platte Rivers to Galeton Reservoir. The water rights changes took 13 years to complete.

One of the new decrees allows for moving water diversion points from two ditch systems, the Larimer & Weld Canal and the New Cache Canal, to upstream locations on the Poudre River in order to divert water to Glade. The EIS process will be studying the environmental effects of this change, including changes in stream flow on the lower Poudre River.

Seltzer said changes in stream flow could be expected below the Poudre Valley Canal, the Glade diversion point located at the mouth of the canyon. As a result, stream flow would likely be lower as the river goes through Fort Collins. Seltzer said if adverse environmental effects are predicted, the NISP partners would have to come up with mitigations before a permit is issued.