June 23, 2026

Two Projects Receive Honors from National Groups

A pair of projects associated with the Windy Gap Firming Project have received awards in recent weeks from national organizations.

The Colorado River Connectivity Channel has earned a National Recognition Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) at its 2026 Engineering Excellence Awards ceremony in May.

Northern Water Project Management Department engineers Kevin Lock and Scott Zusi made the trip to Washington, D.C., to join project partners in accepting the award.

After decades of examination and discussions and following about two years of construction, the Channel was completed in 2024, reconnecting two segments of the Colorado River around Windy Gap Reservoir for the first time since the reservoir was built in the 1980s.

Aerial image shows the Colorado River Connectivity Channel with the smaller footprint of Windy Gap Reservoir

Since its completion, the CRCC has been no stranger to awards and recognitions. In addition to this month's ACEC honor, the project was recognized last year at the Infrastructure Construction Excellence Awards Gala, hosted by the Colorado Contractors Association, taking home Best Project in River Restoration honors in the “Over $10 Million” category.

The Chimney Hollow Reservoir Project also received the 2026 Excellence in Constructed Project Award from the U.S. Society on Dams (USSD) in early May during an awards ceremony at the USSD annual conference. This award “recognizes a water resource project with significant contribution to the dam community and/or to society that met the challenges of the nation’s aging infrastructure in an era of limited financial resources and increasing environmental awareness.”

Attending from Northern Water was Jeff Drager, who led the Engineering Division during the dam’s construction.