Hello Poudre River Lovers! Thank you for your support! We’re in the heat of summer and in the heat of battle to Save The Poudre. First, we filed suit against the Larimer County Commissioners and the City of Thornton for giving a 1041 permit to the Thornton Pipeline. We’re not thrilled to have to sue the Larimer County Commissioners, but our organization is committed to sound science and logic, and Thornton’s pipeline is a ridiculous idea. Further, almost 100% of Larimer County residents oppose the Thornton Pipeline, as evidenced by the hundreds of comments inserted into the permitting record. Although we are not happy to file the lawsuit, we are proud to support the people of Larimer County. Throughout the permitting process, we argued that Thornton should “use the Poudre River as the conveyance” for the water rather than put it in a pipeline. Our lawsuit takes it to the wall in state district court in Larimer County. Second, our lawsuit against the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) and the former Larimer County Commissioners (who gave NISP a permit back in 2020) is now in the Colorado State Court of Appeals in Denver. NISP refuses to consider running their water down the Poudre River, and instead – like Thornton – wants to put the water in a huge pipeline north of Fort Collins. This is, of course, also ridiculous and insane. Using the Poudre River as conveyance for water is cheaper, faster, easier, and more ecologically healthy than draining the water out of the Poudre and putting it in a pipeline. We’re going to fight in state court as long as we can, no matter the outcome, because it’s the right thing to do. We may have to go to the Colorado Supreme Court to fight this battle, so stay tuned. Third, in January we filed the big lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for giving a permit to NISP. Once again, the health of the Poudre River was ignored in this permit decision that we believe violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. And again in the federal lawsuit, we argued that NISP should use the Poudre River as the conveyance for the water, instead of putting that water in a huge, expensive, and environmentally destructive pipeline north of Fort Collins through private neighborhoods. Finally, NISP still needs a permit from the City of Fort Collins to build a massive pipeline across City Natural Areas. This permit process won’t start until the Fall of 2024, but we will be thick in the fight to not only protect the Poudre River, but also protect the City’s Natural Areas that all citizens bought and paid for. Our beloved Natural Areas in Fort Collins and Larimer County SHOULD NOT be sacrifice zones for river destruction and sprawl in Weld County which is where the pipeline would take most of the water. 2024 is the 20th year of this fight which could go on for a few more years in…
Save The Poudre Describes “Poudre River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund”
June 10, 2024
Poudre River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund
The Cache la Poudre River downstream of Gateway Park in Larimer County is severely degraded and multiple new dam, diversion, and pipeline projects would further degrade it. The current flow regime – peak flows, base flows, and 
ongoing average flows – is already severely compromised. If all of the dam/diversion projects are built, the degradation will be further compounded. To enhance the ecological and recreational value and uses of the river, and to help address the problems with peak and base flows, a “Poudre River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund” must be established to fund the following types of projects:
- Establish a “National Water Trail” from Gateway Park to the confluence with the South Platte.
- Rebuild all diversion structures so that fish can swim upstream and boats can pass downstream.
- Move diversion points downstream wherever possible so that water can flow farther downstream but still be gravity-fed to established ditches.
- Develop strategies for water sharing arrangements – including exchanges and trades – between agricultural and municipal users to enhance recreational and environmental uses.
- Develop a streamflow monitoring system that engages with cities and ditch companies – and the ditch rider – to make sure the river always has a “base flow” adequate for aquatic health, and eliminates dry-ups.
- Clean the Poudre River – including city stormwater outfalls and agricultural ditch return flows – to allow the river to be used as a conveyance for municipal water and to improve the water quality.
- Construct “channel enhancement” to narrow the river so that streamflow is deeper and cooler for better health of aquatic life and boating recreation.
- Re-connect the river to its floodplain to increase the health of the riparian corridor.
- Improve water quality and natural storage in degraded headwater areas, using nature-based ecological restoration processes.
- Construct irrigation ditch “pump-up” systems that let water run farther downstream to be pumped back up to the same ditch.
- Acquire and develop additional water supplies to increase flows in the Cache la Poudre River.
We estimate that between $100 million and $200 million is needed to fully establish an ecological healthy and recreationally functional Poudre River and a National Water Trail.
(This Fund description is a work in progress as of 6/10/2024 and may be changed.)
