Corps studies cumulative effects of four water projects
By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News
Greeley pipeline
Water projects in northern Colorado have multiplied like rabbits in the
last few years. Currently there are four projects on the drawing board,
all of which would increase the amount of water taken from the Cache la
Poudre River.
As a result, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will study cumulative impacts
on the river from all projects before issuing any permits.
The projects include the Greeley water pipeline, the Northern Integrated
Supply Project (Glade Reservoir) and enlargements of Halligan and Seaman
reservoirs.
The Clean Water Act requires that the Corps "balance the use of resources
with the potential degradation of those resources," said Tim Carey of the
Army Corps. "If the impacts are large, the permit applicant has to propose
mitigations to offset the impacts. If that's not possible, the Corps could
deny the permit."
If all four projects together are too much for the Poudre River to handle
without being degraded, the Corps will have to decide which projects to
permit and which to deny.
Chandler Peter of the Army Corps said that kind of decision would be determined
partly by which project is first in line, and partly by the impacts of
the individual projects. It's also possible, he said, that some projects
could be combined in order to lessen their impact. For example, the Halligan
and Seaman projects could be incorporated into a larger Glade Reservoir.
Greeley plans to study river impacts of both its pipeline and Seaman Reservoir
at the same time. The Halligan/Seaman Draft Environmental Impact Study
is due by late 2010, and the water depletion analysis will be part of that
document.
However, Greeley Water and Sewer director Jon Monson said the city will
be able to use the river data for its pipeline permits as soon as it's
available, without waiting for the draft EIS. The city already has permits
for three of the five pipeline segments, but part of the added capacity
for the third (Fort Collins) segment cannot be used yet, pending the results
of the water depletion study.
If the last two pipeline segments are not permitted by the Army Corps,
Greeley could still use the permitted segments.
|
