May 1, 2010

Report: Without NISP, Cities Will Dry Up Additional Farmland, Face Nearly Twice the Cost

If the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does not approve a permit to construct the Northern Integrated Supply Project, an additional 100 square miles of Northeastern Colorado farmland could dry up as irrigation water is transferred to supply additional population growth according to a No Action Alternative Report recently submitted to the Corps.

The NISP No Action Alternative Report is now available to the public at gladereservoir.org under “Latest News.” Consultant MWH Americas, Inc. prepared the report for the Corps as part of the NISP environmental permitting process.

The report identifies and details the most likely alternative the 15 water providers participating in NISP will pursue if the Corps does not permit the project. Preparation of an environmental impact statement requires a no action alternative.

water pivot irrigating fields

The No Action Alternative Report looks carefully at the options these growing communities have if NISP does not move forward. The bottom line: these communities and water districts will require additional future supplies and will find those supplies somewhere. The report states that the cities and water districts would be forced to accelerate their rate of irrigated farmland purchase and dry up and would construct a substantial amount of storage reservoirs equivalent to the size of Carter Lake. They would also require at least two large regional water treatment plants.

MWH quantified the cost of various NISP alternatives and determined the no action alternative would cost nearly $900 million compared to the current NISP estimate of $490 million.

“It is sobering for the participants to look at the results of the No Action Alternative Report,” said NISP participants committee Chairwoman Kathy Peterson. “With costs nearly double for these options, it makes it even more imperative that NISP receives a permit.”