Duggan: Fort Collins still has deep concerns about NISP

History could repeat itself when it comes to how the city of Fort Collins reacts to plans for the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project, or NISP.

In 2008, the City Council passed a resolution stating its opposition to the project, which would draw water from the Poudre River and store it in a new facility — Glade Reservoir — that would be built northwest of the city. Another reservoir, Galeton, would be built near Greeley and draw from the South Platte River.

The council at that time cited a variety of concerns raised by city staff members and consultants after reviewing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, or DEIS, for the project. Issues included potential negative impacts to the river’s water quality, riparian areas and wildlife habitat as a result of substantially reduced flows through Fort Collins.

Here we are seven years later and a Supplemental DEIS for the project has been issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which took a deeper dive into the project in response to comments made by Fort Collins and other stakeholders.

Don’t be surprised if the same concerns about NISP are raised this time around when the city submits comments to the Corps. Time and some tweaking of plans for the massive project haven’t made it any more palatable, according an early analysis of the SDEIS by city staff.

The document is improved, city staff say, but in the end, cutting the Poudre’s flow through the city by as much as 66 percent in May, 25 percent in June and 54 percent in July during years of average precipitation and river flows would have significant impacts.

VIDEO:Scenes from a NISP hearing

Water quality would suffer — potentially raising the city’s costs for treating drinking water and wastewater — the number of “boatable” days on the river would drop, and the river’s ecology and overall health would be diminished, staff told council members Tuesday.

It all sounded familiar.

Fifteen municipalities and water districts are participating in the project. The city of Fort Collins is not participating, neither is Loveland or Greeley. But the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District, which provides service to a sizable part of Fort Collins, is a participant. So is Windsor.

On Tuesday, city staff was directed to continue digging in to the SDEIS and to come up with a data-driven analysis of the project’s impacts on Fort Collins.

The deadline for submitting comments on the document is Sept. 3. The council is scheduled to consider the city’s comments in the form of a resolution on Sept. 1. Whether the resolution will flat-out state the council’s opposition to NISP as was done in 2008 remains to be seen.

Based on the preliminary analysis and initial comments from council members, it’s hard to imagine the majority of them would formally state the city of Fort Collins supports NISP.

Kevin Duggan is a senior reporter. Follow him at Coloradoan Kevin Duggan on Facebook or @coloradoan_dugg on Twitter.