Hi Amazing Friends of the Poudre River! It's been a wild 10 days since our announcement about the Agreement we reached to stop opposing the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP), all of which is still being solidified. Stay tuned for more information about all of that in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, we're doubling down against the Thornton Pipeline. Yesterday, we filed our opening brief in our lawsuit against the pipeline, in which we made it perfectly loud and clear that Larimer County should have required Thornton to present a "Poudre River Option" for sending its water down the river instead of a pipeline north of Fort Collins. In fact, NISP will be sending about 1/3 of its water down the Poudre River, equaling about 14,000 acre feet, which is nearly the exact same amount of water that Thornton is proposing to put in its pipeline. If NISP can do it, Thornton can also do it! Further, Thornton's water would be during the summer months which would greatly help to make the river cleaner and healthier at the same time that more people are recreating in the river, including at the Whitewater Park in downtown Fort Collins. Rest assured that our work protecting the Poudre is not done and we are still working hard. Thank you for your ongoing support! Gary Wockner, Director, Save The Poudre
Save The Poudre Update: “Clean The Poudre” Campaign Would Allow More Water in the Poudre
Hi Poudre River Lovers!
It’s your support that keeps us working hard — thank you, and please click here to donate!
Here’s the updates about the Poudre River you need to know.
First, today, Save The Poudre released a short report about “Cleaning the Poudre River so it can be used as a conveyance for water supply”. The report is posted here.
A background summary: Both the Thornton Pipeline and NISP claim they can’t run all of their water rights down the Poudre River through Fort Collins because the water quality in the river is too dirty due to the City’s stormwater runoff. While that may, or may not, be true, there are engineering solutions that can “clean” stormwater before it runs into the Poudre. These solutions are cost-effective, environmentally sound, and proven in other municipalities around the U.S.
We consulted with AbTech Industries (https://www.abtechindustries.com/) to provide some estimates of technologies and costs for cleaning the City’s stormwater before it runs into the Poudre. Our report, as well as AbTech’s website, provide lots of examples and photographs for you to consider.
Long-story short — all water providers can use the Poudre River as a conveyance, which would provide the following benefits:
- Increase quality-of-life for City and County residents,
- Preservation of the environment and natural habitat along the Poudre River corridor,
- Maintaining or increasing flows for recreation including at the new downtown Fort Collins Whitewater Park,
- Increase water quality and cleanliness in the Poudre River.
Save The Poudre is requesting that the County and City convene a “Working Group” to examine cleaning the Poudre River so it can be used as a conveyance for water supply.
Second, last week the City of Fort Collins informed NISP that their Site Plan Advisory Review (SPAR) application is “not complete”. Specifically, NISP has failed to describe how their proposal will impact flooding along the Poudre River in Fort Collins. We are continuing to closely monitor this application and process. As we’ve noted before, we strongly believe that SPAR is an illegal use for NISP, and that the City should require a full development review of NISP that covers ALL OF THE DAMAGE NISP would cause to Fort Collins’ Natural Areas. The City has so-far refused to change direction, although they are investigating creating “1041 powers” for NISP. At this time, Save The Poudre is still in strong opposition to the City’s approach.
Third, the Thornton Pipeline continues to suffer serious setbacks, which is good! Last week, the Weld County Commissioners voted unanimously to “deny” Thornton’s 1041 application for their pipeline. Where this will all end, we don’t know, but we continue to intervene in the court case against the Thornton Pipeline, and we continue to work to require Thornton to send their water down the Poudre River through Fort Collins.
Thank you for your support. Again you can donate online by clicking here.
Stay tuned for all the action!
Gary Wockner
Director, Save The Poudre