PRESS RELEASE: SAVE THE POUDRE TAKES LEGAL ACTION TO STOP NISP!

For Immediate Release June 20, 2019 Contact: Gary Wockner, Save The Poudre, 970-218-8310 SAVE THE POUDRE TRIES TO DEFEND LARIMER COUNTY AGAINST THE CITY OF THORNTON LAWSUIT Poudre River: This week, Save The Poudre filed a "motion to intervene" (posted here) to defend Larimer County against the lawsuit filed by the City of Thornton. The lawsuit tries to overturn a unanimous decision by the Larimer County Commissioners to "deny" the Thornton Pipeline from diverting Poudre River water upstream of Fort Collins and piping it across the county and down to Thornton. Save The Poudre believes the organization has a strong right to intervene and is optimistic the court will allow intervention: Save The Poudre literally started this issue 10 years ago by reaching out to Thornton. Save The Poudre kept in touch with Thornton over the years. Save The Poudre originally brought the "Poudre River Option" to the attention of the Douglas Road neighbors (a coalition now called "No Pipedream"). Save The Poudre participated in all of the Larimer County hearings and Working Group processes, arguing for the Poudre River Option. Thornton discussed the Poudre River Option at length during the County hearings, and also offered the County to put a small part of its water rights back in the Poudre. The issue is solely about Poudre River water and whether to run some or all of the Thornton water rights down the Poudre. "Our organization and our members have a right to be in this case because this case directly impacts our mission to 'protect and restore the Cache la Poudre River of northern Colorado,' said Gary Wockner, Director of Save The Poudre. The City of Thornton has initially "opposed" Save The Poudre's intervention, but the judge has now given Thornton 30 days to formally respond to Save The Poudre's full motion. "It's completely ridiculous that Thornton opposes our intervention," said Wockner. "We have every right to defend Larimer County, represent the Poudre River, and represent our members in this lawsuit." ***end***

For Immediate Release March 29, 2018 Save The Poudre, Gary Wockner: 970-218-8310 Larimer County Must Use "1041" for NISP, not IGA Cache la Poudre River, USA: Today, Save The Poudre sent a legal letter to the Larimer County Commissioners notifying them that they must use a "1041" permit process for evaluating and regulating the Northern Integrated Supply Project ("NISP") rather than an Intergovernmental Agreement ("IGA"). The letter (posted here) states that Larimer County's IGA provisions "are unconstitutionally vague and violate due process". Further, the letter cites numerous legal precedents where other Colorado counties have used 1041 regulations for projects exactly like NISP. "Larimer County's IGA provisions are unconstitutionally vague and violate due process," said Gary Wockner of Save The Poudre. "The County must use a 1041 permit process -- just as other Colorado counties have done -- to give the people of Larimer County their legal due process to evaluate and speak out about this important issue facing the county's future." ***END    

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." ***end***