A U.S. District Court judge on Thursday ruled in favor of the Windy Gap Firming Project, clearing the way for construction of Northern Water’s Chimney Hollow Reservoir.
The reservoir will store 90,000 acre-feet of water from the Windy Gap Project for use by 12 municipalities and entities, including Longmont, Broomfield, Platte River Power Authority, Loveland, Greeley, Erie, Little Thompson Water District, Superior, Louisville, Fort Lupton, Lafayette and the Central Weld County Water District, according to Northern Water.
“Chimney Hollow Reservoir will make the Windy Gap water supply serving those participants more reliable and help them meet a portion of their long-term water supply needs,” Northern Water stated in a news release announcing the ruling.
Save the Colorado, joined by a number of other environmental groups, in 2017 filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers over their environmental review of the project. In his ruling dismissing the suit, Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich found the agencies complied with federal law in issuing a “record of decision” authorizing the project.
“This ruling marks an important milestone for the participants in the Windy Gap Firming Project,” Northern Water General Manager Brad Wind stated in the release. “Chimney Hollow Reservoir and the Colorado River Connectivity Channel will serve as examples of how statewide cooperation can produce water supply solutions and environmental improvements that benefit everyone.”
The Colorado River Connectivity Channel is a newly proposed channel around Windy Gap Reservoir to reconnect the Colorado River above and below the reservoir, according to Northern Water. “The channel will restore the ability for fish, macroinvertebrates, nutrients and sediment in the river to bypass the reservoir,” the water district stated in the release.
Gary Wockner, co-founder and executive director of Save the Colorado, in an email said, "We are disappointed in the court's decision and still reviewing it. The river is already on life support with climate change's heat and drought worsening, and thus this decision just escalates the ecological chaos ..."
The record of decision by the federal agencies also mandates other environmental protections, including improving streamflow and aquatic habitat, addressing water quality issues and providing West Slope water supplies, Northern Water stated in the release. The water district and its municipal partners “negotiated with Colorado River stakeholders to develop this package of environmental protections and received a permit from Grand County and approvals from others, including Trout Unlimited and the state of Colorado, to move forward with the project,” the release stated.
Barnard Construction has been chosen as the contractor to build Chimney Hollow Reservoir, and work will begin in 2021, according to the release. Design work also is underway for the Colorado River Connectivity Channel, and construction is anticipated to begin in 2022.
