Environmental Review
Because the Windy Gap Firming Project would move water through federally-owned Colorado-Big Thompson Project facilities, it must go through National Environmental Policy Act review. NEPA’s primary purpose is to detail potential project impacts and define strategies to mitigate them.
The lead federal agency for the firming project’s NEPA process is the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns most C-BT Project facilities. Reclamation must publish extensive documents detailing the reasons for, operations of, and potential impacts of a project; address public comment; and then issue a decision.
Historic Mitigation The original Windy Gap Project went through its own NEPA process before it was built. The mitigation that came out of the process included minimum streamflows, stream gauging, salinity studies and water supply to the West Slope.
Mitigation funding also included:
- $10.2 million payment to the West Slope in lieu of building the Azure Reservoir
- $550,000 for endangered fish species
- $420,000 for water and wastewater treatment facilities
- $500,000 to upgrade new pumps and provide for downstream rancher diversions
Mitigation NowThe project's fish and wildlife mitigation plan received unanimous acceptance from the Colorado Wildlife Commission and Colorado Water Conservation Board in summer 2011. The plan includes operational considerations to mitigate higher stream temperatures, criteria for sediment-flushing flows, and nutrient removal to offset impacts to water quality in Grand Lake and the Colorado River.
The state also approved a separate voluntary plan to offer enhancements, or additional benefits, for the river, including increased funding for future stream restoration and habitat-related projects. Both the mitigation and enhancements were developed in coordination with Denver Water for its proposed Moffat Collection System Project, which involves diversions that affect the same reaches of the Colorado River.
The Municipal Subdistrict also has a conceptual agreement in place with West Slope stakeholders for benefits it will provide, including additional water for environmental purposes such as stream flow augmentation.
The Colorado River below the Windy Gap Project: mitigation included maintaining minimum streamflows.
Participants' Conservation Efforts Firming project water providers recognize the importance of conservation. The participants have diversified, substantive conservation programs that they continue to evaluate and strengthen.
The providers have already made significant progress by reducing water consumption by more than 25 percent since 1988. They accomplished this through supply-side measures such as improving facility efficiency, as well as on the demand side, by implementing metered billing and outdoor watering limitations.
Despite these efforts, conservation measures alone cannot meet future residential water demands. The firming project’s participants are expected to see a combined 2050 population of more than 825,000 people – more than double what they had in 2005.
With this population increase comes increased need. Water demand projections for the participants show a shortage in supply of 64,000 acre feet in 2030 and 11,000 acre feet by 2050.