[fcollinscatcher]

http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/08/27/northern-colorado-proposed-water-project/71276880/

Growing up in Fort Collins I have mixed feelings about the potential for a reservoir between Ted's place and the Forks. Northern Colorado's growth is not slowing down any time soon and it would be sweet to have another large reservoir just outside of town. Then again, I am not the biggest fan of drawing people to my neck of the woods. I am very interested in seeing where/how the water would be drawn and also if there would be a possibility of an improved tail water stretch..tail water in Fort Collins' back yard would be pretty sweeet.

 

[Scyry]

I'll be surprised if the reservoir ends up being 'on stream' just don't see it passing the environmental impact statement. No one builds reservoirs on stream anymore. Hess and Ridges Basin are the newest large reservoirs in Colorado, both off stream. Reading that story, I think it sounds like the water will be diverted from the Poudre instead of damming it. So there won't be a tail water, just an intake diverting water to a canal or pumping plant to fill the reservoir. People in Durango will know what I am describing.

 

[Colorado.Mackinaw]

http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/08/27/northern-colorado-proposed-water-project/71276880/

"Reagan Waskom is with the Colorado Water Institute at CSU, which has taken no formal position on the project.

"We're playing out in this one basin what's going to happen all over the state," Waskom said. "It's an urban, environmentally conscious group of folks, that don't want to see another depletion. There's communities that are growing that need that water – that's the tension: how much more can we take out of these rivers?"

Guy down by the river said the poudre will run high for the next thousand years or so..... that's great news! .......who knows man..... hopefully in hindsight we can say we made the right decisions..... I plan to end up in Montana and/or British Columbia..... point is we need formal positions by those who know.......a public forum sounds like a great place to start but public opinion will always be manipulated..... I'd love to hear what FishDr has to say

Imo....we need more lake trout.....Lets move this project into the mountains and redirect the funds to improve our mackinaw fisheries

 

[troutnut]

http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/08/27/northern-colorado-proposed-water-project/71276880/

I am very interested in seeing where/how the water would be drawn and also if there would be a possibility of an improved tail water stretch..tail water in Fort Collins' back yard would be pretty sweeet.

The large canal at the mouth of the canyon would be enlarged to divert 1000+ cfs (that canal can run around 300 cfs currently), diverted water will go to a fore bay reservoir that will pump the water up to Glade. There will also be water pumped from the South Platte up to Galeton reservoir, another unbuilt vessel that is part of this project (NISP).

The water from Galeton can be utilized by a one of the ditch companies on the Poudre that has senior water rights. In turn that senior water can be diverted into Glade if there is enough water for that exchange to occur. The Poudre already has a tangled web of water rights and exchanges and Glade would just add to the complexity.

There is talk of minimum or enhanced flows in reaches of the Poudre, I don't see a tail water but there will have to be some concession of water from NISP for flows if this project is permitted by the Corp (IMHO).

I think water quality could be the biggest hurdle (again IMHO). The water pumped from the South Platte (for Galeton) is not the same as Poudre water (sight and smell) but it has more salt ect. and that is not good for some crops.

Also, many of the NISP participants are way south of Glade or the Poudre. They receive their water from Carter reservoir. Without a pipeline from Glade to the south, NISP will have to exchange or trade water with C-BT water in Horsetooth and Carter. This would affect the water quality in Horsetooth because it would not be drained and refilled nearly as much as it currently is, making the water more difficult to treat. This again IMHO is one reason why the Fort is opposed.

 

[fcollinscatcher]

Some good information. I wonder if this is a project that will always be on the back burner? As with any large scale project, especially when dealing with water (especially in CO), it seems like there is an infinite number of hurdles to overcome and than there is always the public/stakeholders.

 

[JCTroutman]

Here is a map of the project.

http://www.northernwater.org/docs/NISP/MapsDocuments/MapsPDFs/1gladeLocation.pdf


Here is a cool interactive map
http://www.northernwater.org/WaterProjects/NISPGISMap.aspx

 

[Scyry]

I'll just state that Ridges Basin Dam in Durango started out as a concept in the early 1908s and wasn't completed until 2007.

Hess was started in 1985.

I'm guessing Glade won't happen until 2030 at the earliest.

Northern Water also wants to build Chimney Hollow to add more capacity to the Big Thompson Project. It would be just west of Carter and of similar size. Well they actually want to look at building a lot of reservoirs as part of the Windy Gap Firming Project:

http://www.usbr.gov/gp/ecao/wgfp_eis/wgfp_alternatives0905.pdf