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A new dam and reservoir project proposed for the Cache la Poudre River
is headed for a showdown if the Army Corps of Engineers this month
signs off on the proposal, as both sides expect it to do.
Colorado is one of two states that has all its fresh water
originating within its borders (the other is Hawaii). Like most Western
states, it parcels out rights to water based on seniority of the
claimant, not necessarily proximity to rivers or lakes.
Between
the mouth of Cache la Poudre Canyon and its junction with the South
Platte River, 60 miles east, lie 24 diversion structures, typically dam
and canal combinations. This network sends the river water to its
historical owners, mainly farmers on Colorado's eastern plains.
The
new project would supply water to the river's other users -- a ring of
fast-growing communities that hug the northern edge of Denver's sprawl.
It would take about 40,000 acre-feet from the river annually. An
acre-foot is the common measure of water, consisting of an acre of
water a foot deep.
The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy
District, which is spearheading the dam project in partnership with 15
cities and communities that want the water, says the reservoir and dam
are the most environmentally and economically sensitive ways to deal
with the ever-growing water needs.
But critics, mainly
environmentalists arguing that Fort Collins deserves as much river
water as possible because it is closest to the source, contend the
project could spell the end for the Poudre. "We thought the era of big
dams was over," said Will Walters of the Sierra Club's Fort
Collins-area chapter. "Turns out there are still some holdouts."
Gary
Wockner, an environmental activist who is helping lead the fight
against the project, and other opponents of the project argue that
there is plenty of water in reservoirs on the eastern plains to meet
the region's growth needs. The water district's clients should buy that
water rather than drain the Poudre more, they contend.
Warner,
however, said that would be prohibitively expensive. He added that 60
percent of the water that would go into the new reservoir was already
being taken from the river; the district will just divert it to its own
storage area. And the water will be pumped from the Poudre only during
the peak flow months.
He also noted that, even if the dam
and reservoir were not built, the district still had the rights to the
water, and fast-growing communities in northern Colorado needed it.
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