Glade EIS released
By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News
It's been talked about for years, but discussion has now reached a critical
point. On April 30, the federal government's environmental impact statement
for the Northern Integrated Supply Project, which includes Glade Reservoir,
was released after many months of delays.
The report has no specific recommendations but does analyze several different
alternatives including a no-action choice. The option favored by NISP participants
includes both Glade northwest of LaPorte and Galeton Reservoir northeast
of Greeley.
Now, there is a 90-day public comment period guaranteed to be feisty. Several
opportunities for public input are planned within the next three months.
The first public meeting will be hosted by the Larimer County Commissioners
on May 5 at 7 p.m. in the first-floor hearing room at the Courthouse Offices
Building. Representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers, permitting agency
for NISP, will explain details of the EIS. This is an informational meeting,
and the public will not be invited to share comments. The meeting will
be broadcast live on local cable channels.
On May 20, The LaPorte Area Planning Advisory Committee will consider the
project. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Tapestry House, 3212 N. Overland
Trail in LaPorte. One hour will be allocated to hearing comments from LaPorte-area
residents. Residents will be asked to limit their comments to how the proposed
Glade Reservoir and highway relocation relate to the LaPorte Area Plan.
For a link to the plan, go to www.co.larimer.co.us/laporte/.
Written comments, limited to one page, may also be submitted to LAPAC.
People may e-mail comments to Jill Bennett, Larimer County planner, at
jbennett@larimer.org.
The Army Corps will hold public hearings on June 17 and 19. The June 17
hearing will be held at the Fort Collins Senior Center, 6 p.m., with an
open house from 4 to 6 p.m. On June 19, the public hearing will be at the
University Center of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley at
7 p.m., with an open house beginning at 6 p.m.
The county commissioners will have a second public meeting on July 9, 6:30
p.m., in the first-floor hearing room. At this meeting, commissioners will
take testimony from the public and from project proponents. This meeting
will also be broadcast on local cable channels. Following the meeting,
the commissioners will prepare comments to be submitted to the Army Corps.
NISP would supply 15 communities in northern Colorado with additional domestic
water. Neither Fort Collins nor Greeley is participating in the project.
One of the partners is the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District, which
supplies water to parts of south Fort Collins and Timnath.
Glade Reservoir would be somewhat larger than Horsetooth Reservoir, with
170,000 acre-feet of capacity. Water diverted from the Cache la Poudre
River would be stored in a "forebay" beneath the dam, then pumped into
the reservoir. The project would require relocating about seven miles of
U.S. Highway 287.
Glade Reservoir has been highly controversial. While project proponents
have cited a need for additional domestic water supplies along the fast-growing
Front Range, opponents say that Glade would have harmful effects on the
Poudre River. Most of the water diverted to Glade would be taken out in
years of above-average stream runoff, and this depletion would take away
from springtime flushing flows. Opponents say these flows are needed to
maintain the health of the river and its neighboring wetlands.
The EIS is available at Fort Collins, Colorado State University and University
of Northern Colorado libraries, Windsor Recreation Center and the Greeley
City Manager's office. Online, the document can be found at the Army Corps
web site, https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/od-tl/eis-info.htm.
People may mail comments to the Corps at 9307 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton
CO 80128 or by e-mail to chandler.j.peter@usace.army.mil.
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