The Colorado Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit from environmentalists last week that sought to force Larimer County to reevaluate a massive northern Colorado water project, which would eventually supply 13 billion gallons of water to 15 Front Range communities.
The Northern Integrated Supply Project would pump water from the Poudre River into two large reservoirs that would be built near Fort Collins and Greeley and would include dozens of miles of new pipelines and a major renovation of existing canals. The utility proposing the project, Northern Water, says it’s the only way to meet demand for an additional 500,000 customers it expects to serve by 2050.
Environmentalists who filed the lawsuit say better and cheaper alternatives exist, and that the project would destroy the river’s natural flow.
“The Poudre River is the heart and soul of Fort Collins — the whole community is built around it,” said Gary Wockner, executive director of the environmental group Save the Poudre. “NISP would turn the Poudre River in Fort Collins mostly into a muddy stinking ditch.”
In promotional materials, Northern Water said the reservoir project would add water into the Poudre River during dry spells, and that the project would improve water quality in the river basin. But Wockner disputes this, and said the group’s analysis showed one of the new reservoirs might be barely full during droughts.
“NISP will be lucky to fill [the reservoir] a quarter of the years, and the rest of the time it’ll be an ugly scar on the landscape,” Wockner said.
In 2019, Save the Poudre and No Pipe Dream, another advocacy organization, sued the Larimer County Board of Commissioners for approving a local permit for the project. The groups alleged that two commissioners were biased in favor of the project and that the permit — a critical step before construction — should be denied.
In an Oct. 3 decision, the appeals court upheld a lower court decision and confirmed the permit was properly issued.
“We are gratified that the Court of Appeals upheld the District Court decision, and we are working toward final design of this important project,” Jeff Stahla, a Northern Water spokesperson, said in a statement.
The ruling inches the reservoir project one step closer to construction more than 20 years after it started in earnest. Northern Water first started planning for the project in the 1980s. It has already cleared significant hurdles, including approval from multiple state and county agencies and the federal government through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The reservoir project may still require a local permit from Fort Collins, since part of its pipelines may cut through the city. For years, the city opposed the project because of its potential impact to wetlands and other natural features.
In 2023, the city strengthened its approval process for large infrastructure works, which means it will have to be impartial when evaluating those permits. In July 2024, the city council formally rescinded its opposition to the project.
Some construction on the project might begin next year, while reservoir construction north of Fort Collins is slated to start in 2027. Northern Water is still evaluating whether to submit a permit to Fort Collins, spokesperson Stahla said.
Save the Poudre is considering appealing the ruling to the state Supreme Court and has sued the Army Corps over its approval in federal court. More filings are expected in that lawsuit next year.
