Hi Poudre River Lovers, We killed it once, but Thornton's ZOMBIE pipeline is back again! Next week on April 10th, there will be a hearing at the Larimer County Planning Commission. On April 22nd, there will be a final hearing in front of the Larimer County Commissioners. We have dissected the application and provided comments to the Planning Commission. Our comments are posted here. A summary of our comments: This new application has changed very little from the previous application in 2018. It's a waste of Larimer County's time to even consider this application when there is no significant benefit to the County. Further, the former Larimer County Commissioners denied the application, and then Thornton lost in court, twice. This new application should meet the same demise. Larimer County's Land Use Code requires that applicants must "FIRST AVOID" negative impacts to the County, its citizens, and its natural resources. Instead of avoiding those impacts, Thornton's application tries to "mitigate" impacts. Using the "Poudre River Option," Thornton must send its water down the Poudre River instead of putting the water in a pipeline, an option that would AVOID all impacts in Larimer County. Thornton could've sent its water down the Poudre River 10 or 20 years ago WITHOUT even needing a permit from Larimer County, and so its not Larimer County's fault, or Save The Poudre's, that Thornton doesn't already have this water. The application provides almost no material benefit to the County and its residents which is required by the Land Use Code. Thornton must choose the "Poudre River Option" which sends the water down the Poudre and would provide the following benefits to help restore and heal the Poudre River: The river water would be cooler which would benefit native fish and people recreating in the river. The higher flow would help flush sediment and mud out of the river channel. Trout could more easily spawn in a cleaner riverbed of sand and gravel. Less algae would grow on the riverbed and on rocks, making the river safer for people. Less water treatment and expense might be needed by the City’s wastewater treatment plant, and city-wide stormwater runoff would have less negative impact on water quality in the river. Wetlands would be helped to flourish along the river providing more bird and wildlife habitat. Cottonwoods and willows would be helped to flourish along the river. Recreational opportunities, including those at the new Whitewater Park, would be enhanced. Flooding impacts may decrease. The river would be more beautiful. Hearing dates with the Planning Commission and County Commissioners: Sign up to speak through the Larimer County website here. Planning Commission - Wednesday April 10 Board of County Commissioners - Monday April 22 All meetings will start at 6 p.m. and will have a hybrid format. In person: 200 W. Oak St. and via Zoom (link to be provided) In addition to showing up for the Hearings, writing letters to the Planning Commission and the County Commissioners is important! Write letters to John…
Great News, Poudre River Lovers! NISP HAS BEEN DELAYED AGAIN!
Great News, Poudre River Lovers!
NISP HAS BEEN DELAYED AGAIN!
We recently found out that the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) has now been delayed until 2018. So, in 2018 that will be the FIFTEENTH YEAR we have been fighting and Stopping NISP.
HOORAY!
Thank you for all of the support for the last 14 years! Your support has made all of the difference, and we’d be grateful for your support again.
Please click here to donate to Save The Poudre:
http://savethepoudre.org/donate.html
But the news isn’t all good. Due to the Trump administration’s lock on the federal government, we can almost guarantee that the permitting process for NISP will get fast-tracked in 2018. Further, it’s becoming increasing clear to us that the system is rigged. Over the 14 years of our fighting to stop NISP, we’ve been relentless in providing objective, scientific information to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. However, every time they come out with a new draft of the Environmental Impact Statement, they pretty much blow off our comments and agree with the NISP side of the story.
More recently, we provided objective, scientific information to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, but they also blew us off and supported the “mitigation plan” for NISP which is filled with loopholes in the even minimal mitigation it proposes.
All of that means we are likely headed to court.
When our forefathers and foremothers in Congress in the 1960s and 1970s passed laws to protect the environment, they included provisions that allowed for citizens and groups like Save The Poudre to enforce the law. If we feel that the federal and state govt have violated the law, then we can enforce that law by filing lawsuits against those governments.
But we can’t be successful without your help.
Your financial support has and will continue to make the difference. Every time a public comment period is open in the permitting process, we throw ourselves into it – hiring outside scientific consultants and spending hundreds of hours packing the legal record for the eventual lawsuit. Over the next 12 months, there will be more critical periods where we will once again throw ourselves into it.
You have been a great member of the Save The Poudre team for 14 years! We greatly appreciate your support, but more importantly, you’ve allowed us to speak for the Cache la Poudre River in this long, crazy battle to stop NISP and Save The Poudre.
Every $10 or $25 makes a real difference.
If you can afford $50 or $100 or more, that’s great too!
CLICK HERE TO DONATE:
http://savethepoudre.org/donate.html
Thank you for your support!
Mark Easter, Chair of the Board; Gary Wockner, Executive Director