Northern Water Timeline
March 1991
The Central Colorado Water Conservancy District imports the concept of children's water festivals to Colorado from Nebraska and hosts Colorado's first children's water festival.
June 3, 1991
The NCWCD begins offering C-BT Project water for seasonal rental. People line up as early as 2 a.m. to rent water.
June 14, 1991
The NCWCD and Subdistrict boards vote to include the City and County of Broomfield within NCWCD and Subdistrict boundaries.
July 1991
NCWCD staff release the Northern Colorado Regional Water Supply Study, including information about projected future water demands.
Fall 1991NCWCD begins preliminary design work on the Southern Water Supply Project pipeline to deliver C-BT and Windy Gap water from Carter Lake to cities and towns year-round.
May 19, 1992
Children's water festivals spread across Northern Colorado. NCWCD sponsors its first festival in Fort Collins.
October 1992
The University Press of Colorado publishes "The Last Water Hole in the West," a history of the NCWCD and C-BT Project. The book's author is Colorado State University historian Daniel Tyler.
1993
NCWCD expands its Irrigation Management Service to include a Turf and Urban Landscape Water Management & Conservation Program component. By 1993 municipalities own more than half of C-BT Project units.
November 1993
Construction begins on the Southern Water Supply Project pipeline from Carter Lake to Broomfield.
June 18, 1994
Officials rename the Granby Pump Plant in honor of the Farrs, a prominent Weld County farm and ranching family.
Summer 1994
NCWCD converts the west lawn at its Loveland headquarters into a turf demonstration site to study bluegrass lawn maintenance and methods to use less fertilizer and water.
December 13, 1995
A rare sequence of events triggers an explosion at the Flatiron Power Plant’s Unit No. 3. Reclamation must repair the unit before it can pump water to Carter Lake.
May 1996
District staff and dignitaries dedicate and open the Windy Gap Watchable Wildlife Area for public use at Windy Gap Reservoir near Granby.
July 16, 1996
Crews install the last segment of the Fort Lupton-Hudson pipeline, completing the second phase of the Southern Water Supply Project.
Fall 1996
Following repairs, Reclamation personnel test and ready the Flatiron Pump Plant Unit No.3.
February 7, 1997
The NCWCD and Subdistrict boards vote to include the City of Louisville within NCWCD and Subdistrict boundaries.
September, 1997
Engineers begin designing a third phase of the Southern Water Supply Project pipeline, a 42-mile segment from Platteville to Fort Morgan.
November 1997
The NCWCD purchases 35 acres on the north side of Berthoud to consolidate all East Slope employees, facilities and activities at a new headquarters site.
Spring 1998
NCWCD's Irrigation Management Service installs a drip irrigation system in a cornfield at the Thompson Valley Young Farmer Education Farm.
August 1998
Pleasant Valley Pipeline participants settle on a project design. The reversible pipeline will benefit Larimer and Weld county residents.
October 1998
Crews begin constructing a bypass flow structure at the Flatiron Power Plant. The bypass will enable water to bypass Flatiron in the event of a plant failure. The plant produces hydropower and also pumps water 300 vertical feet to Carter Lake.
December 1998
Construction of the Flatiron bypass structure is complete.
September 1999
Crews finish work on the Southern Water Supply Project pipeline’s final 42 miles from Platteville to Fort Morgan.
1999-2000
Windy Gap Project participants and the Subdistrict consider several potential reservoir sites on both the East and West slopes to store Windy Gap Project water.
2000-2006
Sustained drought hits Northeastern Colorado, resulting in agricultural water shortages and municipal water use restrictions.
January 2000
The NCWCD and Reclamation unveil plans to modernize Horsetooth Reservoir’s four 50-year-old dams to make the structures more earthquake resistant and reduce seepage.
Spring 2000
Windy Gap participants, the Subdistrict and the NCWCD discuss increasing the Southern Water Supply Project pipeline’s capacity via installation of pumps.
April 2000
NCWCD and Colorado Division of Wildlife officials agree to construct additional game ramps in several C-BT Project canals. The ramps enable stranded wildlife to exit the canals safely.
June 13, 2000
The Bobcat Gulch fire ignites north of Drake and west of the Hansen Feeder Canal. The fire scorches approximately 10,600 acres. The NCWCD and other agencies cooperate to minimize erosion and excessive runoff from the burned area.
July 14, 2000
The NCWCD Board approves a contract with RB+B Architects, Inc. to design a new headquarters facilities in Berthoud.
October 27, 2000
President Clinton signs legislation authorizing title transfer of four C-BT Project facilities from the U. S. government to the NCWCD. All are located downstream of Horsetooth Reservoir and include the North Poudre (Munroe Gravity) and Charles Hansen supply canals, the Windsor Extension, and the Dixon Feeder Canal.
December 2000
The NCWCD and Reclamation sign C-BT Project Supplemental Contract No. 7 to modernize Horsetooth Reservoir’s four 50-year-old dams.
February 2001
The Bureau of Reclamation begins modernizing Horsetooth Reservoir’s four dams.
April 2002
The NCWCD Board approves a contract with FCI Constructors, Inc. for the new Berthoud headquarters facilities.
June 17, 2002
The Bureau of Reclamation marks its 100th anniversary with a celebration at Hoover Dam on the Colorado River near Las Vegas, Nevada.
August - October, 2002
A contractor repaints the Big Thompson Siphon, the structure’s first new coat of paint since it was replaced following the 1976 Big Thompson flood. The new color: sweetwood brown.
Construction on the Southern Water Supply Project began
in November 1993 and the last section – from Platteville to
Morgan County – was completed in September 1999.
October 2002
The NCWCD Board moves its initial quota declaration to October, establishing winter-time water delivery accounts and allowing water users to transfer water in the same accounting year before the traditional quota declaration each April.
December 2002
The NCWCD makes its final payment to the federal government, fulfilling its financial obligations under the original C-BT Project Repayment Contract and the C-BT Project Supplemental Contract No. 2. The NCWCD continues to repay its portion of Horsetooth Modernization Project costs under C-BT Project Supplemental Contract No. 7.
January 2003
The NCWCD begins investigating water project alternatives within the South Platte, St. Vrain, Big Thompson and Cache la Poudre watersheds for a potential Northern Integrated Supply Project.
March 2003 C-BT reserves reach an all-time low. Lake Granby is at 5% of capacity.
Spring 2003
The Subdistrict pumps a record 64,200 acre feet of water to Lake Granby.
September 2, 2003
After more than 49 years in west Loveland, the NCWCD moves to its new facility in Berthoud. The District has 104 full-time employees; 84 in Berthoud and 20 at the Farr Pump Plant on Lake Granby.
October 2003
After more than two-and-a-half years of work the Horsetooth Modernization project is complete. The same month work begins on the eight-and-half-mile Pleasant Valley Pipeline.
February 13, 2004
The NCWCD and Subdistrict boards vote to include the City of Lafayette within NCWCD and Subdistrict boundaries.
Spring 2004
The NCWCD expands its water quality monitoring program, a multi-agency effort to monitor and maintain the C-BT Project’s supply of high-quality water.
March 2004
Crews finish constructing the Pleasant Valley Pipeline between Horsetooth Reservoir and the Poudre River. It is designed to flow by gravity in each direction without the need for pumps, associated infrastructure or power costs.
August 2004
The NCWCD Board adopts new Carryover Program rules and a Carryover Capacity Transferability Program to more flexibly manage C-BT Project water supplies.
September 2004
The NCWCD implements online accounting, providing secure online access to C-BT Project allottees’ water accounts via the NCWCD website.
March 2005
The Subdistrict completes Windy Gap Project pipeline repairs and installs a cathodic protection system to minimize future repairs and extend the pipeline’s useable life span. The NCWCD reconstructs the bifurcation structure on the Hansen Supply Canal and Windsor Extension at the Poudre River north of Horsetooth Reservoir.
May 2005
The NCWCD begins preliminary design work on a second Southern Water Supply Project pipeline from Carter Lake to cities within NCWCD and Subdistrict boundaries.
October 2005
The NCWCD Board adopts a Regional Pool Program to increase water management flexibility and help preserve a portion of C-BT Project water supplies for irrigated agriculture.
November 2005
The NCWCD Board signs agreements with the Bureau of Reclamation to design a second outlet structure at Carter Lake.
March 2006
The NCWCD relocates a section of the St. Vrain Supply Canal upstream of the Little Thompson Siphon due to unstable geology. The canal is back in operation and carrying water by early April.
July 31, 2006
The NCWCD dedicates its Outdoor Laboratory for Landscape and Irrigation Education (OLLIE) and marks the 30th anniversary of the 1976 Big Thompson flood. OLLIE, a 2.5-acre site dedicated to turf, soil, irrigation and planting experiments, is part of the NCWCD’s Turf and Urban Landscape Water Management & Conservation Program. In 2007 OLLIE is renamed The Conservation Gardens at Northern Water.
October 15, 2006
NCWCD staff begin lowering the water level in Shadow Mountain Reservoir 12 vertical feet to kill aquatic weeds by exposing them to freezing temperatures for approximately five weeks. The reservoir’s location and lack of depth make it fertile ground for aquatic weed growth.
October 2007
The NCWCD constructs a new outlet at Carter Lake. Completed in March 2008, the project includes a three-tiered intake tower, an 800-foot-long tunnel and several hundred feet of pipeline. The additional outlet supplements rather than replaces the original outlet structure.
April 2007
The NCWCD Board endorses staff’s recommendation to use “Northern Water” as an abbreviated reference for “Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District” to facilitate name recognition. Previously the organization was known by multiple references, including The District, Northern, The Northern District, The Water District, NCWCD and others.
January 2008
The Northern Water Board adopts a new logo to replace the organization’s existing 20-year-old logo.
July 2008
Reclamation confirms the presence of quagga mussels in Lake Granby. Quagga mussels are an invasive species similar to zebra mussels. Both types of mussels drive out native species, block industrial pipes and can clog boat motors.
April 2009
Northern Water crews finish installing an automated trash rack on the St. Vrain Supply Canal near Lyons to lift tumbleweeds and other debris from the canal.