Hello Poudre River Lovers! THIS IS IT! Today is Giving Tuesday -- Thank you for your support! Please donate on our website at: http://www.savethepoudre.org/take-action/donate/ In the next few months, we will make our final decisions about challenging the permits for NISP at the local, state, and federal level, and YOUR financial support will make those decisions for us. For 18 years, we’ve been fighting to stop the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) because it would further dam/drain/divert the Poudre River through Fort Collins. Here’s an update on where the battle is right now. First, 2 of 3 Larimer County Commissioners voted to approve NISP, a decision that was finalized in early November 2020. We’ve pulled out all the stops in our effort to reverse this decision. So far, we’ve: Filed a lawsuit arguing that two of the County Commissioners are biased due to their decades of support for NISP. Will be filing another lawsuit against Larimer County specifically for the NISP decision. Worked in close coalition with two local neighborhood groups – “Save Rural NoCo” and “No Pipe Dream” – to fight the project and influence the County’s decision. Continued to make news arguing that NISP should use the river as a conveyance. The Denver Post (above left) highlighted our work to fight both NISP and the Thornton Pipeline on Sunday, Nov. 15th. And, the Fort Collins Coloradoan (right) accurately covered the Larimer County hearing process extensively. The County permit process completely ignored many issues, and completely ignored 95% of all public comment opposing NISP. The outrageous decision to support NISP by two term-limited Commissioners can and must be overturned. We have a strong case in the courts to overturn this decision and we are aggressively pursuing it. We are fighting every step of the way in this County permit debacle. It ain’t over yet! Second, our legal action against the State of Colorado is moving forward with a final decision occurring while this letter goes to press. The state gave a “401 water quality permit” to NISP. Save The Poudre's appeal alleges thirteen violations of State regulations when the State gave its permit. The Top Five violations are: No water rights – the plan to fill Glade Reservoir requires buying hundreds of farms in Weld County, whereas only two farms have been bought. Fails to take into account climate change and its reduction in streamflow in the Poudre River. Mitigation won’t occur until full build-out, maybe 30 years in the future. Mitigation doesn’t allow for peak flows to clean out the river and restore the riparian forest through Fort Collins. Fails to quantify any requirements to meet state water quality standards and relies on nebulous "adaptive management". The State permit was given by the staff at the Water Quality Control Division. The appeal is to the "Water Quality Control Commission" appointed by Governor Polis. If the “Commission” votes against the Poudre River, we can file a lawsuit in Larimer County District Court. Finally, Save The Poudre is awaiting the…
PRESS RELEASE: Larimer County Unleashes 42-Day Permitting Process For Massive Proposed Dam Amidst Pandemic
For Immediate Release
March 24,2020
Contact: Gary Wockner, Save The Poudre, 970-218-8310
PRESS RELEASE: Larimer County Unleashes 42-Day Permitting Process For Massive Proposed Dam Amidst Pandemic
Fort Collins: Today, the Larimer County Commissioners created a 42-day permitting process for the biggest, most environmentally destructive, most controversial project in Larimer County history, all amidst the global coronavirus pandemic that has paralyzed Colorado’s government and economy. The first public hearing is set for May 6th.
The permitting documents made publicly available today include 62 highly technical documents totaling 911 pages (see County webpage here), which is the 
culmination of a 17-year process to create a permit for the proposed “Northern Integrated Supply Project” (NISP), a massive proposed dam and pipeline project that would further drain and destroy the Cache la Poudre River through Fort Collins.
NISP proposes a massive dam and reservoir near homes that adamantly oppose it, a highway relocation near neighbors that oppose it, and two huge pipelines, one of which would go through neighborhoods that vehemently oppose it.
In fact, just last year, hundreds of neighbors and Fort Collins citizens turned out for multiple public hearings against the Thornton Pipeline which would have gone along the exact same route proposed by NISP (Above: a photo of public participants at one of the hearings). The Larimer County Commissioners unanimously denied the Thornton Pipeline and the project is now in court.
The permitting process for NISP — called a “1041 permit” — is proposed exactly when Governor Polis has ordered statewide “social distancing” and the closure of businesses, and when — just yesterday — the Larimer County Dept of Public Health said it was considering a county-wide “shelter-in-home” order (see Coloradoan story today here).
“The Larimer County Commissioners must indefinitely suspend this 1041 permitting process for NISP until the pandemic passes and the public engagement process can be normalized,” said Gary Wockner, director of Save The Poudre. “The public participation window of 42 days is insanely short for this massive technical project, and creating this public process for this extremely controversial project during the coronavirus pandemic violates all standards of government ethics and transparency, and likely violates Larimer County landuse regulations requiring public participation.”
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