06 ‎(3)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 9/16/2008
• Description: IWMD Section - Presentation on Northern Integrated Supply Project ‎(NISP)‎
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

July 16, 2008
Ms. Jennifer Gimbel, Director
Colorado Water Conservation Board
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Dear Ms. Gimbel:
City Manager's Office
City Hall
306 LaPorte Ave.
Po Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6505
970.224.6107 -fax
icgov.com
The City of Fort Collins recently became aware that a presentation will be made to the
Colorado Water Conservation Board about the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) at
the July 22 meeting of the Board. The City requests that the following NISP-related
comments by the City of Fort Collins (the City) be made available to Board members prior to
the Board discussion. In addition to the following comments, several documents are
attached, including media coverage and correspondence.
While the City has not yet taken a position regarding NISP, or regarding the draft
Environmental Impact Statement, it has identified a number of concerns related to the
project's potential impacts.
The City has been working diligently and devoting; substantial resources in an effort to
analyze the nature and scope of potential impacts froml the NISP proposed action.
The City requested and has now received an extension of the comment period to allow a
better opportunity to review the draft EIS, and to 'identify additional information that is
needed to understand the implications of the project and to evaluate impacts. This additional
time is necessary to evaluate the potential magnitude and nature of those impacts and to
evaluate proposed mitigation or identify potential mitigation, if the impacts can be
adequately mitigated.
The City's review is preliminary and ongoing, but to date has identified some potentially
significant impacts that appear would result from construction and operation of the proposed
action. These include issues of concern to the City as a public drinking water provider,
issues of concem to t:te City as a wastewater utility that collects and treats wastewater for the
public, and issues of concern to the City as a stormwater utility and administrator of the
Poudre River floodplain within the city boundaries.
In particular, the proposed action appears likely to impact the quality of water in both of the
City's sources of drinking water supply (the Poudre .River and Horsetooth Reservoir), and
could require the City to substantially alter its water treatment systems and processes.