FAQs

Yes. NISP is an important part of ensuring a reliable water supply for Northern Colorado’s growing communities, businesses and agricultural economy for generations to come. Northern Water is responsible for providing reliable water to more than 1.1 million people today and planning for the additional 500,000 people expected to call Northern Colorado home by 2050. While communities are investing in conservation, reuse, groundwater and other strategies to make the most of existing supplies, those supplies alone are not sufficient or reliable enough to meet long-term needs, particularly during extended drought. 

NISP will provide participating communities with a new, reliable municipal water supply, helping meet future demands while strengthening resilience during dry years. It will also reduce pressure on existing supplies and provide communities with greater flexibility in managing their water resources. Planning and investing now is essential because major water projects take decades to permit, finance and construct. Ultimately, NISP is about ensuring Northern Colorado has the reliable water supplies needed to support future generations, our economy and the quality of life that makes this region home.

While water users are much more efficient now thanks to a focus on conservation, the reality is there is no way to conserve our way to a secure water future. With a growing population and limited water supply, Northern Water must invest in creative strategies that meet future demands sustainably. 

Glade Reservoir will be located northwest of Fort Collins, while Galeton Reservoir will be northeast of Greeley. 

Northern Water owns the land for each of these proposed reservoirs.

Glade Reservoir will be 5 miles long, 280 feet deep at its deepest and have the capacity to store 170,000 acre-feet of water — slightly larger than Horsetooth Reservoir. The surface area of Glade Reservoir will be about 1,600 acres when full.

Galeton Reservoir will store about 45,600 acre-feet at full capacity with a maximum depth of approximately 85 feet and a dam length of over 2 miles. The surface area of Galeton Reservoir will be about 2,000 acres when full. 

Quite the contrary — as part of our Fish and Wildlife Mitigation and Enhancement Plan approved by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, we’ll release water year-round from Glade Reservoir, which will eliminate existing dry-up points. In addition, NISP will allow certain high flows to continue downstream rather than capturing them, including flows intended to help flush sediment and maintain a healthy river channel and aquatic environment.

This, along with another $60 million in environmental commitments, is credited at least in part for the State Water Quality Division finding that “no significant degradation is expected as part of the project.”

NISP includes burying approximately 80 miles of large, safe, resilient pipelines to deliver water to cities, towns and water districts across Northern Colorado. 

The NISP Fish and Wildlife Mitigation and Enhancement Plan — approved by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, Colorado Water Conservation Board and Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2017 — includes an array of components that address issues raised during the permitting and public comment processes, such as:

• An operational configuration that releases 18 cubic feet per second to 25 cfs year-round from Glade Reservoir to the Poudre River, eliminating existing dry-up points in the river and improving streamflows
• A Poudre River peak-flow operations program that results in little to no diversions during peak flow conditions during 90 percent of years
• Wildlife habitat conservation
• Water quality improvements
• Retrofitting four existing diversion structures to allow fish to migrate freely up and down river — and for flows to continue downstream
• Stream channel and habitat improvements
• Fishery and recreation benefits at Glade Reservoir

Additionally, in the summer of 2018, officials from the Army Corps of Engineers released a Final Environmental Impact Statement outlining the impacts of NISP, as well as three alternative projects. It also looks at the effects to the environment if no action alternative is approved. In addition to marking yet another step in a 15-year federal permitting process, the FEIS showed that no new significant issues have popped up and that the impacts can and will be mitigated.

Glade Reservoir Dam – Multiple safety measures are put in place for any dam project. The dam is being permitted through the Colorado State Engineers Offices, which has strict safety and design standards. The dam is being designed to withstand huge weather events, seismic activities, soil shifts, etc. 

Pipelines – The pipelines will be constructed with engineered steel to withstand surges and pressures within the line. The project as a whole will go through a series of quality control measures, monitoring procedures and checks from regulatory agencies. Some of these items include a hydrostatic test of pipelines above operating pressures, slow filling of the reservoir to ensure stability, testing during construction (concrete strength, compaction requirements, welding, etc.) and many others. The pipeline will automatically shut down in the case of leaks.

Northern Colorado’s future water supply depends on NISP, and that’s why this innovative water supply project has been so thoughtfully developed. Water supply projects are carefully reviewed by regulatory experts and require extensive permitting and approvals. That’s why Northern Water has spent considerable time and money to conduct careful, detailed and thorough studies that withstand all levels of review and scrutiny. NISP has been evaluated by every state and federal agency that regulates this type of project and has achieved every permitting and approval milestone to date. 

As part of the regulatory review and permitting for NISP, Northern Water sought to implement extensive protections and enhancements to the aquatic and wildlife environment within the Poudre River watershed, and regulatory agencies have approved our plans. 

We are proud of the solid work and dedication that has gone into moving this project to this stage. When complete, it will be among the water supply project jewels in the state because NISP demonstrates how people and the environment can both benefit when projects are done properly.