FORT COLLINS — A report submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says damming the Cache La Poudre River will devastate northern Colorado farming.
But the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District says the new report is badly flawed.
Save the Poudre: Poudre Waterkeeper — a loud critic of the dam proposal — is asking the Army Corps to review the report as it considers a go-ahead permit for the Northern Integrated Supply Project.
The NISP calls for the Cache La Poudre to be diverted during high-flow periods to fill two reservoirs, Glade northwest of Fort Collins and Galeton east of Ault. The project is estimated to cost about $490 million.
The report from Save the Poudre, “Farm Facts About NISP,” contends the project would cause problems for about 123,000 acres of Colorado farmland.
It would speed up the buy up and subdivision of irrigated farms in northern Colorado; accelerate salinization of productive croplands; end most “free river” diversion opportunities and impact many existing water users; and submerge and divide productive agriculture land, the report says.
Also, it says the initial fill of 100,000 acre feet and the ongoing diversions into Glade and Galeton reservoirs are likely to come from agricultural water from northern Colorado and the Western Slope.
“This new, scientific analysis provides a dramatic new picture of the negative impacts of NISP on northern Colorado’s farm economy,” said Gary Wockner of Save the Poudre. “If you are an irrigating farmer in the Poudre or lower South Platte basins, . . . NISP could harm your farm.”
But Brian Werner, spokesman for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, said the report is way off base.
“I would highly question their new science,” Werner said. “It’s just plain garbage. I don’t know how else you could say it.”
The NISP is backed by 14 northern Colorado water providers that see the project as the best way to preserve water for Colorado farmland, Werner said.
“Why else would the Farm Bureau and various ditch companies support NISP?” Werner asked. “We’re pretty confident this project can stand on its own.”
The U.S. Army Corps could have a supplemental draft environmental-impact study done by the end of the year, Werner said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
