Northern Water Board Sets Initial Quota at 50 Percent

Northern Water’s Board of Directors has set a 50 percent initial quota for Colorado-Big Thompson Project users in 2026. The Board voted 11-1 to set the quota at that amount, with Director Jennifer Gimbel casting the lone dissenting vote.  

While the 50 percent goal will likely not be the final tally for the 2026 high demand season, the initial water put into users’ accounts will help them through the next few months while offering an initial figure for the year.  

Since 2010, Northern Wate has set a 50 percent initial quota for every year except 2023, when the Board set a 40 percent initial quota. 

The quota is the number that describes the official allocation of Colorado-Big Thompson Project water resources for a given year compared to the complete project delivery figure of 310,000 acre-feet. In April, the Board will set a supplemental quota to give the region a much-better indication of how much water will be needed by users for the year. While the most-common quota for the Project is 70 percent, the Board will take recommendations beyond April if conditions merit. In 2025, the Board set a 70 percent quota in April, but after rainfall did not occur as predicted, raised the quota to 75 percent.