WSP06826

• File Number: 8441.600.20
• Description: Pleasant Valley Pipeline
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 11/1/2000
• Author: USDOI/BOR
• Title: Pleasant Valley Pipeline Draft Environmental Assessment
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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PLEASANT VALLEY PlPELINE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

PURPOSE AND NEED

The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, acting by and through the
Pleasant Valley Pipeline Water Activity Enterprise (District), proposes to construct,
operate and maintain a buried raw water pipeline with a capacity of up to 120 million
gallons per day (mgd). This pipeline would run from the Soldier Canyon Dam outlet of
Horsetooth Reservoir in Larimer County north to the Munroe Canal (also known as the
North Poudre Supply Canal) northwest of Ted's Place (Figure I). The Pleasant Valley
Pipeline (PVPL) would supply Colorado-Big Thompson Project (C-BT) and Windy Gap
Project water to the City of Greeley, and tributary Cache la Poudre River (Poudre River)
water to the existing domestic and municipal water treatment plant operated by Fort
Collins and the Soldier Canyon Filter Plant, which provides water to three large rural
domestic water districts that serve the Fort Collins-Loveland-Greeley area. Water
districts served by the Soldier Canyon Filter Plant are referred to as the Tri-Districts and
include the East Larimer County Water District (ELCO), Fort Collins-Loveland Water
District (FCL WD), and the North Weld County Water District (NWCWD). These
facilities are currently dependent upon one source of water and need to develop backup
and additional supply facilities.

The purposes of the proposed project include:

. Provide a physically redundant, or second, supply of high quality water to each of
the domestic and municipal water treatment plants in a cost-effective, efficient,
cooperative, and regionally beneficial manner.

. Enable more efficient operations of each of the domestic and municipal water
treatment plants.

. Provide an alternative means of conveyance of Colorado-Big Thompson and
Windy Gap Project water to Greeley's Bellvue Water Treatment Plant.

. Provide for conveyance of tributary Cache la Poudre River water diverted under
transferred and changed water rights and new water rights to the Fort Collins
Water Treatment Plant and Soldier Canyon Filter Plant.

The PVPL would provide increased reliability and operational flexibility for each of
the three municipal water supply providers. Each of the water providers has previously
considered similar individual projects to improve the reliability of its water supply
system. The proposed project is a cooperative effort to consolidate the water delivery
needs of each of the domestic and municipal water treatment plants into a joint project.
The need for PVPL for each of the municipal water providers is described below.