Thornton gets green light from Larimer County for long-sought water pipe segment
Thornton will be capable of construct a essential phase of a 70-mile pipe to convey water from the Cache la Poudre River to the fast-growing suburb north of Denver, after elected leaders in Larimer County unanimously — if begrudgingly — permitted a allow for the northern phase of the pipe on Wednesday night time.
Colorado’s sixth-largest metropolis, with a inhabitants of almost 160,000, has been claiming for years that with out entry to Poudre water shares it has owned for many years, long-planned residential development within the metropolis is jeopardized — together with reasonably priced housing.
However a procession of county residents has spoken out in opposition to the proposed mission at a collection of public hearings held over the previous couple of weeks, insisting that Thornton merely may permit its shares within the Poudre River — equaling 14,700 acre-feet a yr — to circulate via Fort Collins earlier than taking the water out for municipal use.
Doing so, they are saying, would improve flows and enhance the river’s well being.
However simply hours earlier than Wednesday’s assembly, one of many opposition teams to the mission — No Pipe Dream — mentioned it sensed momentum had turned town’s means, issuing a public assertion that mentioned “we’ll skip the torture of tonight’s listening to on our ‘good neighbor’ Thornton’s plans to win the water faucet lottery and appease hungry builders.”
Earlier than casting her sure vote Wednesday, Larimer County Commissioner Kristin Stephens mentioned she wished Thornton would ship its water down the Poudre “as a result of that’s what the group desires.”
“We are able to’t try this,” she mentioned, referring to a 2022 Court docket of Appeals determination that dominated that Larimer County can not drive Thornton to make use of the river as a conveyance.
“Thornton’s pipeline is the perfect of what looks like a foul answer,” she mentioned.
Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally additionally mentioned she wished to maintain the water within the Poudre “for so long as attainable,” however famous that Thornton had glad the county’s land use standards and state water regulation with its pipeline. John Kefalas, the one commissioner who was in workplace the final time Thornton introduced its proposal to the county in early 2019, grew to become emotional earlier than casting an affirmative vote.
“Frankly, I’ve anguished over my determination,” he mentioned.
The battle over Thornton’s water pipe has been occurring for years, and a denial of a allow for the mission by Larimer County’s commissioners greater than 5 years in the past set off a flurry of unsuccessful court docket challenges that in the end prompted town this yr to resubmit its utility — this time with a unique route and 17 fewer miles of pipe inside the county’s boundaries.
The town additionally relocated a pump home from the unique plan to a website that isn’t close to any homes, and it agreed to 83 county land use circumstances to maneuver the mission ahead.
Even so, dozens of Larimer County residents have shared their ideas on the proposed mission, with the overwhelming majority opposing it as disruptive to property homeowners alongside the pipe alignment and a misplaced alternative to reinforce the well being of a river that one native claimed was “overly appropriated.”
Bobbi Norman, a Larimer County resident, mentioned throughout a public remark interval this week that Thornton may greatest exemplify its want to be a very good neighbor by leaving the water within the river.
“Thornton taking its water down the Poudre river — that’s what makes a neighbor right into a hero,” she mentioned.
However Thornton repeatedly has countered that as a result of town already diverts the water it owns — into reservoirs and onto farmland in Larimer and Weld counties, a lot of which town itself owns — placing it right into a pipe can have no unfavorable impact on Poudre flows.
“No new diversions are deliberate as a part of this mission,” Carolynne White, an lawyer representing Thornton within the dispute, mentioned at a listening to Monday. “Thornton’s mission avoids impacts to the Poudre River. We are able to’t be anticipated to mitigate impacts that we’re not inflicting.”
The town insists on shifting its water by pipe somewhat than by way of river so it could actually preserve the standard of the water it’s conveying by not operating it via Fort Collins and previous a number of wastewater remedy crops.
Makes an attempt by cities to entry water a considerable distance away isn’t unusual in Colorado, the place pipe networks crisscross the Continental Divide to convey water to the Entrance Vary. Simply final month, Aurora paid $80 million for a 5,475-acre farm and its water rights in Otero County, in a transfer meant to fulfill wants related to a projected inhabitants development of 40% over the following twenty years.
As in Larimer County, the acquisition ran crosswise with leaders in southeastern Colorado, who say the deal violates a 2-decade-old settlement to cease the booming suburban metropolis from utilizing water meant for crops.
Thornton too has argued that with out the Poudre shares it has owned for many years, long-envisioned house building — essential for a state going through a extreme housing scarcity — merely may evaporate for lack of water.
Wednesday’s determination places to relaxation Thornton’s years-long effort to pipe its water the complete distance, from some extent on the Poudre northwest of Fort Collins previous Interstate 25 after which south to Thornton. The $500 million mission has gotten approvals for pipe segments traversing Weld and Adams counties, with about 10% of the mission having been constructed and buried as of late final yr.
Barring any main building delays, Thornton may begin sending its water down the pipe by late 2027 or early 2028.