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 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.)