A Colorado environmental group is asking a federal judge to strike down a $2 billion plan that would reroute river water to the state’s expanding northern communities.
The nonprofit Save the Poudre last week filed a lawsuit in a federal district court in Denver, arguing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should not have issued a permit for the project, to be carried about by Northern Water.
The project, called the Northern Integrated Supply Project , would involve building two new reservoirs and piping 40,000 acre-feet of additional water to 15 providers in Northern Colorado. For reference, a typical U.S. household uses about 1 acre-foot of water each year.
Estimating that the region’s population could double by 2050, the utility stressed a need to boost the region’s water supply and ensure “a high-quality way of life” for these future residents.
The first of the two planned reservoirs, the Glade Reservoir near Fort Collins, would store water diverted from Cache la Poudre River — the focus of the environmental group’s lawsuit.