December 2014 Waternews

WATERNEWSNorthern Water DECEMBER 2014

Water year sets records

Windy Gap reaches milestone

O&M projects highlight busy summer

Northern Water conducts rate study

2 WATERNEWS December 2014 www.northernwater.org

MANAGER’S MESSAGEERIC WILKINSON

A great water yearI would like to welcome you to our fall 2014 edition of

Waternews. 2014 has been an unusually good year for water users

and managers, and one of the best water years ever in the memories of many long-time residents. We all benefited from an abundant snowpack and very timely and plentiful rains. The summer’s precipitation met a large portion of crop water needs, sustained rivers and greatly lessened the need to use available reservoir storage.

The 2014 water year provided the Colorado-Big Thompson Project system with its highest Nov. 1 storage reserves in history. It also left the C-BT Project in excellent shape heading into 2015. The article on pages 4-5 provides an informative summary of the 2014 water year.

While we strive to make as much C-BT water available for beneficial use as possible within Northern Water boundaries, we also appreciate the plentiful years when Lake Granby fills and spills. The water that spilled from Lake Granby this year contributed, albeit minimally, to storage reserves in Lake Powell.

With the Colorado River Basin significantly drier than average over the last 15 years, and as long-term water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead have continued to decline, it was good to see a net gain in Lake Powell’s storage in 2014.

Northern Water continues to operate and maintain the C-BT Project’s infrastructure to our high standards, assuring project reliability and extending the life of C-BT facilities. This is a high priority for Northern Water, and the article on pages 8-9 describes a few such efforts during the past year.

Many of you have closely followed the long and complicated federal permitting processes for two projects – the Northern Integrated Supply Project and the Windy Gap Firming Project. Northern Water and its Municipal Subdistrict are pursuing these projects on behalf of 23 municipal, domestic,

and industrial water entities in northeastern Colorado.

NISP and the WGFP are both nearing the end of the National Environmental Policy Act’s lengthy and detailed compliance process. We see a light at the end of the tunnel for both projects, with permitting decisions on each in the near future.

Northern Water’s Board of Directors has spent considerable time during the past year studying our financial situation. As with most organizations, operational costs continue to increase. The Board hired a consultant to examine Northern Water’s current and future expenditures along with projected revenues.

As a result of the study, the Board determined that rate increases were necessary. The Board also implemented a forward guidance policy to annually notify C-BT Project allottees of projected assessment rates for the two subsequent years. The article on pages 14-15 examines the Board’s decision to increase open-rate allotment contract assessments.

Water conservation continues to be a focus of Northern Water’s operations and educational efforts. Articles in this issue describe a few of our water conservation programs.

Finally, many of you may know of Governor Hickenlooper’s May 2013 executive order authorizing a Colorado Water Plan, currently under development by the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

The CWCB has submitted a draft of the Colorado Water Plan to the Governor for his consideration. I encourage each of you to participate in this important effort as the process moves forward.

Planning for Colorado’s water future is essential. The level of our success will be a key factor in determining the water legacy we leave Colorado’s future generations.

Highest Nov. 1 storage reserves in C-BT history

3 WATERNEWS December 2014

WATERNEWSVolume 34 • Number 1 • December 2014

All rights reserved. Postage paid at Berthoud, CO. Postmaster: Send corrections to Northern Water, 220 Water Ave, Berthoud, CO 80513800-369-RAIN (7246), www.northernwater.org

Editors Mark Dowling, Greg Silkensen and Brian Werner Writing Zach Allen, Mark Dowling, Greg Silkensen and Brian Werner Graphic Design Zach Allen Photos Northern Water unless otherwise notedPrinting Vision Graphics

BOARD OF DIRECTORSBoulder CountyLes Williams Sue Ellen Harrison Dennis Yanchunas (President, Subdistrict)Larimer CountyMike Applegate (President, District)Bill Brown (Vice President, Subdistrict)Bill EmslieLogan CountyBrad StrombergerSedgwick CountyRob McClary Washington and Morgan countiesJohn RuschWeld County Kenton Brunner (Vice President, District)Don MagnusonDale Trowbridge

CONTENTS FEATURES

FRONT COVER

The Cache la Poudre River maintained high flows throughout the summer as a result of runoff from an above average snowpack.

INSIDE 6 WEATHER STATION NETWORK

10 WINDY GAP FIRMING PROJECT

11 GRANBY HYDROPOWER PROJECT

12 BOARD UPDATE

13 C-BT IN BRIEF

4 Amazing water year 2014 was a record water year. See how 2014 stacked up to previous years and what it meant to water users

8 O&M projects Major O&M projects highlight a busy summer maintaining an aging infrastructure

14 Rate study Northern Water’s comprehensive rate study

COLORADO WATER D I F F ERENT ?

W H Y I S

There ’s a spec ia l ingred ient in Co lorado water—SNOW. I n fac t , up to 90% of the West ’s water star ts as snowfal l . I t �u�s our sk is , rocks our raf ts , and fuels our l i fe.

T h o u g h s e e m i n g l y a b u n d a n t , t h e r e a l i t y i s , t h e r e’s a � n i t e a m o u n t o f f r e s h w a t e r. S o i f y o u l o v e C o l o r a d o — a n d w h o d o e s n’ t — l e a r n h o w y o u c a n p r o t e c t t h i s v e r y p r e c i o u s r e s o u r c e .

C O NSERVE , CARE AND C O MM I T

Brought to you by ColoradoWaterWise.org

@LoveColoradoWater @LoveCOWater

Live Like You Love It - new statewide messaging campaign from Colorado WaterWise that promotes water conservation and clean water supplies. Look for more Colorado water facts by using the hashtag #LiveLikeYouLoveIt on Facebook and Twitter.


WATER YEAR

The 2014 water year proved to be record-setting, with both East and West Slope

Colorado-Big Thompson Project reservoirs near capacity for much of the year. Fortunately, the outlook for Northeastern Colorado’s water supplies in 2015 is equally bright.

By the end of October 2014, C-BT Project storage was at an all-time high – more than 200,000 acre-feet above average and 20 percent greater than the previous record set in 1997. Local reservoir storage was also in excellent shape, with Poudre River basin reservoirs at an all-time high for the month of October.

The C-BT Project’s record-breaking storage levels in 2014 were, in part, a result of extremely low C-BT deliveries. At slightly more than 120,000 acre-feet, C-BT deliveries in water year 2014 were the second lowest in history.

Low deliveries are typically attributed to timely, above-average precipitation and streamflows. The September 2013 floods were one important contributor

to the low water deliveries. The residual effect of the flooding left groundwater levels well above average, sustaining high flows in creeks and rivers months after the flooding had receded.

Not only were reservoirs full, the South Platte River and its tributaries had above-average flows in 2014.

The South Platte River experienced several weeks without a single administrative call in 2014. Sometimes referred to as a “free river,” this meant that any water user along the South Platte could divert during that period. And by the end of the 2014 water year, the South Platte had returned to a free river status. According to Dave Nettles, the Water Division No. 1 engineer, the South Platte is shaping up to be a free river for most of the winter.

At the start of the 2014 water year on Nov. 1, 2013, local storage was nearly 20 percent above normal. As the water year progressed with above-average precipitation and streamflows, farmers, cities and towns realized they would not need as much reservoir water as

in an average or dry year. As a result, local reservoir storage was 30 percent above average by Oct. 31, 2014 – yet another indication that 2015 should be a plentiful water year for Northeastern Colorado.

With Colorado heavily dependent on snowfall for its water supplies, 2014 also got off to a great start with above-average mountain snowpack. Snowpack in the upper Colorado River basin – where the vast majority of C-BT water supplies originate – was 127 percent of its average maximum, with South Platte River basin snowpack at a similar 131 percent of average maximum.

With excellent winter snowpack, above-average reservoir levels and optimistic projections for the 2014 water year, Northern Water directors declared a 60 percent quota during their April 11, 2014, Board meeting. Directors carefully considered snowpack and runoff forecasts while also assessing the region’s needs for supplemental C-BT water before setting the quota for the remainder of the water year.

With so much precipitation, the C-BT Project’s largest reservoir – Lake Granby – filled and spilled three distinct times during the 2014 water year. Lake Granby and Willow Creek Reservoir,

C-BT storage at all-time high

Carter Lake, like all Colorado-Big Thompson Project reservoirs, was near capacity throughout most of the spring and summer.

Water Year 2014 by the numbers• 120,503 AF of C-BT delivered • 55,492 AF delivered from

Horsetooth; 53,348 AF delivered from Carter Lake

• Estimated 83,255 AF to Municipal/Industrial use (69 percent)

• Estimated 37,248 AF to Agricultural use (31 percent)

Note: all of these storage figures include C-BT quota and carryover water.


WATER YEAR

primary storage vessels in the C-BT’s West Slope collection system, spilled a combined 20,000 acre-feet in 2014.

“Granby doesn’t spill all that often, and when it does it’s rare to see it spill twice in a given year,” said Andy Pineda, water resources department manager at Northern Water. “But to see it spill three different times? That’s pretty unique.”

Throughout most of the spring and summer, water levels at Carter Lake and Horsetooth Reservoir were also near capacity.

Windy Gap Project 2014 recapThe Windy Gap Project uses excess

C-BT Project capacity to store and convey water to the northern Front Range. With a spill at Lake Granby all but assured, the Windy Gap participants

decided against pumping water to Lake Granby during the 2014 spring runoff.

However, with Windy Gap water from previous years already stored in Lake Granby, the Windy Gap Project was able to deliver 12,644 acre-feet – the lowest volume of Windy Gap deliveries in any water year since 2000.

When Windy Gap Project water is stored in Lake Granby, it is the first water to be discharged if the reservoir completely fills and begins spilling. During the 2014 water year more than 11,000 acre-feet of Windy Gap water spilled from Lake Granby. This scenario illustrates why additional, Windy Gap Project storage is clearly needed. If built as planned, the Windy Gap Firming Project’s Chimney Hollow Reservoir will capably fill this need.

Additional storage needed Plentiful water years like 2009, 2010,

2011 and 2014 exemplify why additional storage would benefit this semiarid region in Northeastern Colorado. If already constructed, Chimney Hollow, Glade and Galeton reservoirs would have stored large amounts of excess runoff in 2014, as well as during other wet years.

As just one example, the Northern Integrated Supply Project’s Glade Reservoir could have diverted and stored nearly 85,000 acre-feet of water from the Poudre River in 2014, which was nearly half of the unappropriated Poudre River flow that year.

With Colorado’s population projected to only grow, additional reservoir storage will be an integral component of any plan to meet the state’s future water needs.

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Storage (acre‐feet)

Nov. 1 total storage in Lake Granby, Carter Lake and Horsetooth Reservoir

Lake Granby, Carter Lake and Horsetooth Reservoir ended the 2014 water year in record-breaking fashion with 742,997 acre-feet in storage. The previous record was 720,343 acre-feet set in 1997.


Northern Water established its first weather station at the organization’s former

Loveland headquarters building in 1986. Today this network includes 19 stations in Northeastern Colorado, as well as two more on the West Slope.

Accurate weather data, including reference evapotranspiration, can help irrigators, farmers, golf course managers, municipalities and homeowners determine how much water to apply to a crop, lawn, landscape or golf course.

Evapotranspiration, a basic component of the hydrologic cycle, is essential to the agricultural industry. ET is the combination of water transpired by vegetation and evaporated from soil, water and plant surfaces. It is affected by

solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity and wind.

Northern Water’s reference ET calculations follow the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Standardized Reference Evapotranspiration Equation.

All of Northern Water’s East Slope weather stations monitor wind speed and direction, temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall. Fourteen stations have a weighing bucket that measures total precipitation: rain, snow and sleet. Thirteen stations measure soil temperature.

The weather stations are located on public and private property, including farms, municipal parks, golf courses and Colorado State University’s Horticulture Field Research Center.

Ten of the stations are in irrigated alfalfa fields. The remaining nine stations are in large turf areas.

Without the cooperation of private and public property owners, Northern Water would be unable to provide this extensive weather station network.

To ensure the data is accurate, each weather station is maintained regularly. This includes calibrating every sensor in the network each year.

Weather station data are available on Northern Water’s website (northernwater.org/WeatherAndETdata). This includes the 19 East Slope weather stations, as well as the two West Slope stations – Windy Gap and Shadow Mountain – near the town of Granby.

Users may download hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual data in MS Excel or Word format, or elect to receive text or email alerts for any station.

To receive alerts simply visit northernwater.org. At the top of any page, click Register to create a new account, or click Log In if you already have a Northern Water online account.

After you have logged in, click Manage Text Alerts near the bottom of the page. Then click Create Weather Alert near the top of the page and choose the type of alert(s) you would like.

Please note: the Daily Average alerts are sent at approximately 2:30 a.m. with the previous day’s data.

WEATHER STATION NETWORK

Accurate weather data Northern Water’s weather station network helps better manage water supplies

Weather station at Meining Farms in Gilcrest. The Meinings have been cooperators since 1992. This weather station includes a weighing bucket (right) that measures precipitation.


CONSERVATION GARDENS

Studies promote conservation

Northern Water’s backyard is home to the award-winning Conservation Gardens, where more than 700 plants and 60 turf varieties are studied to

measure their water use and adaptability to Northeastern Colorado’s semi-arid climate.

The garden’s studies provide homeowners and landscape professionals with the necessary tools to practice water conservation in their own landscapes.

The Xeric Irrigation Comparison, which began in 2013, is a collaborative study by Northern Water and the Center for ReSource Conservation of three climate-adapted gardens. Study results will demonstrate the benefits and water requirements of water-wise gardens.

Many landscapes are home to Kentucky bluegrass, which is arguably the most popular turfgrass available.

Some consider Kentucky bluegrass a high-maintenance, high-water requirement grass. In Northern Water’s bluegrass review study, Kentucky bluegrass is not the villain many think it is. Overall, Kentucky bluegrass is an ideal turf for Colorado landscapes. It also has many features and benefits that make it more practical than tall fescue.

Unfortunately, many people tend to over water bluegrass, buttressing its reputation for high water use. In Colorado,

outdoor water use accounts for 40 to 60 percent of total household consumption.

Northern Water has studied how much water lawns need and how often they should be irrigated along the Northern Front Range. Studies show that in the heavy clay soils of many Colorado landscapes, turf can thrive for eight to nine days without watering or rainfall, provided soil preparation has been adequate.

Adding and monitoring a smart controller with a rain shut-off to an irrigation system, as well as incorporating a soil moisture sensor, also helps promote water conservation.

Northern Water’s Conservation Gardens are open year-round to the public. Regularly scheduled tours are held throughout the summer, and group tours are welcomed.

Visit northernwater.org to learn about the Conservation Gardens and ongoing studies or to download Landscaping & Watering Fact Sheets.

Northern Water provides water conservation information to the general public, landscapers, municipalities, agricultural users and Northern

Water allottees. Water conservation is an integral part of Northern Water’s strategic plan and long-range efforts to encourage water stewardship through wise water use.

Two annual events, the Conservation Gardens Fair and the Fall Field Day, showcase Northern Water’s Conservation Gardens.

The Conservation Gardens Fair is held annually in May. The 2014 fair included activities for the entire family, new irrigation technology and information about water-saving landscapes.

The fair included information and expert resources from the City of Loveland, Colorado Vista Landscape Design, Colorado State University Extension, Plant Select and Master Gardeners. Participating local vendors included DBC Irrigation Supply, Berthoud Ace Hardware and Gulley’s Greenhouse.

Northern Water irrigation management services staff presented workshops on Conservation Gardens studies, landscape design, efficient irrigation and hose-end drip irrigation for small gardens. Additional seminars focused on permaculture, improving irrigation system efficiency and

water-wise woody plants.

The 2015 Conservation Gardens Fair will be held Saturday, May 16.

The Fall Field Day, held in early September, is geared to industry professionals and individuals with significant experience in horticulture and water conservation practices. Northern Water has found that educating landscape professionals during the Fall Field Day provides an additional method and significant opportunity to relay water conservation information to the public.

The 2014 Fall Field Day showcased new information on rain shut-off systems and smart controllers, proven technology to help lower water use in outdoor landscaping.

The Fall Field Day included seminars, study results, turf/plant studies and a tour of the gardens.

Learn more about the Conservation Gardens and water conservation practices at northernwater.org/WaterConservation.

Conservation Gardens Fair and Fall Field Day


O&M UPDATE

Construction of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project began in 1938. While extremely well-

designed and built, maintenance of the project’s aging infrastructure is a high priority to assure its continued future reliability.

“The C-BT Project has held up remarkably well through the years,” said Northern Water General Manager Eric Wilkinson. “Our focus is to properly maintain all facilities to the quality standards that have been in place through the past 60 years in an effort to extend the useful life and assure the reliability of project facilities.”

Throughout the past year, Northern Water operations and maintenance crews worked diligently to complete significant infrastructure maintenance on the C-BT and Windy Gap projects.

The West Slope collection system department, headquartered at the Farr Pump Plant on Lake Granby, maintains four reservoirs, three pump plants and several canals. The C-BT’s West Slope facilities collect and transport water to the Adams Tunnel for its 13-mile trip to the East Slope.

Three collection system department projects highlighted a busy summer schedule. All three projects involved dive crews and a remotely operated vehicle, a miniature submarine equipped with video cameras. The dive crews and ROV provided a good look at the condition of underwater infrastructure at three C-BT Project facilities on the West Slope.

Farr Pump Plant inlet structureThe Farr Pump Plant sits on the north shore of Lake

Granby, the largest reservoir in the C-BT Project and the second largest in Colorado. The plant’s inlet structure has three 7-foot diameter conduits that allow water to flow to the plant’s three 6,000 horsepower pumps.

A number of years have passed since these conduits were last inspected. Divers used an ROV to conduct an initial inspection of the trash rack covering the plant’s 40 foot tall intake structure.

Each of the three conduits is equipped with two large isolation valves located immediately upstream and

downstream of each pump. The isolation valves allow water to be drained from each conduit, permitting access, inspection and maintenance of each pump’s impellers.

Underwater inspection of the conduit drains and associated valves indicated rusting and deterioration, necessitating eventual replacement of the drain valves and piping. Hydrologic and water supply conditions in 2014 provided an opportunity to schedule and conduct this replacement project.

Following the ROV inspection, the divers placed a bulkhead in a slot constructed within the intake structure and just in front of each conduit. The bulkhead prevented water from entering the conduit. Once drained, crews inspected the interior of the conduit and then replaced the conduit’s drain valve and piping.

Northern Water employees fabricated the replacement drains and piping. Following work on one conduit, crews refilled the conduit with water, removed the bulkhead and then repeated the process for the next two conduits. The replacement process for all three conduits took only 10 days. The replacement drain valves and piping should last for at least 50 years.

O&M projects highlight busy summer

An Associated Underwater Services dive crew begins the inspection process to evaluate the inlet structure and conduit at Granby Dam.

Rusty and corroded intake conduit drain at Farr Pump Plant. Three of these drains were replaced.


O&M UPDATE

Granby DamLake Granby’s main dam is located slightly more than two miles south of the

Farr Pump Plant on the reservoir’s southwest shore. The dive team used the ROV at Granby Dam to inspect the intake to the outlet works conduit beneath the dam. The inlet structure and conduit had not been viewed or inspected since the reservoir started storing water in 1949.

After crews removed a section of the trash rack from the inlet structure on the upstream end of the outlet conduit, the ROV inspected the structure, the conduit and the operating gates.

The inspection showed no need for additional maintenance, evidence that the structures have aged well through the years.

Willow Creek ReservoirWillow Creek Reservoir, located approximately 2 miles west of Lake Granby,

captures Willow Creek basin runoff before it is pumped to Lake Granby by the Willow Creek Pump Plant and associated infrastructure.

The dive team again employed the ROV to inspect the Willow Creek Reservoir outlet’s intake structure and outlet conduit. As with Granby Dam, the inspection revealed no need for additional maintenance.

During the inspection, no water was released directly from the outlet gates to Willow Creek. However, because Northern Water must maintain minimum streamflows for fish habitat below the reservoir, crews installed two temporary pumps to continue supplying water to maintain Willow Creek’s 7 cubic-foot-per-second required minimum flow.

East Slope O&M activitiesNorthern Water’s East Slope distribution system department, headquartered in Berthoud, maintains three reservoirs and many

miles of canals and related infrastructure to distribute C-BT Project water. Distribution system department employees spend a substantial amount of time maintaining facilities, including replacing

concrete canal sections, inspecting siphons, delivering water, mowing and spraying weeds.This fall crews spent two weeks removing and then replacing 34 concrete sections along a 9-mile section of the Hansen Feeder

Canal between the Big Thompson River and Horsetooth Reservoir. Each concrete section contains approximately four cubic yards, with a total pour of approximately 136 cubic yards of concrete.

In addition, distribution system employees drained and inspected five siphons. All were in good condition.

Future needsNorthern Water is committed to preventative maintenance, and will

continue doing everything necessary to properly maintain the C-BT Project’s infrastructure and to continue delivering project water to C-BT allottees.

Northern Water’s highest priority is managing and delivering project water. C-BT maintenance and reliability are vital to ensure that all water users receive their allotted supplies.

The C-BT Project has provided supplemental water to Northeastern Colorado’s farmers, municipalities, industries and residents for more than 65 years. And with Northern Water’s commitment to preventative maintenance, the C-BT Project should have no trouble continuing vital water deliveries for many decades to come.

Two pumps at the Willow Creek Reservoir bathtub spillway provided 7 cfs to Willow Creek and the Colorado River.

C-BT Project Facts

The C-BT Project consists of:

• 12 reservoirs • 35 miles of tunnels • 95 miles of canals • Seven hydroelectric power plants • 700 miles of transmission lines

The C-BT Project collects and delivers on average more than 200,000 acre feet of water each year.

Water is delivered to more than 640,000 acres of irrigated farm and ranch land and 880,000 people in portions of eight counties.


WINDY GAP FIRMING

Windy Gap Firming Project reaches milestone in 2014

On December 19, 2014, following years of effort, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Northern Water and its Municipal Subdistrict signed

a new Windy Gap carriage contract. Simultaneously, Reclamation issued a Record of Decision for the Windy Gap Firming Project, enabling continued progress to design and construct Chimney Hollow Reservoir.

The WGFP is a collaborative proposal between 12 Northeastern Colorado water providers and the Platte River Power Authority. The WGFP would improve the Windy Gap Project’s reliability by constructing a new storage reservoir for Windy Gap water at Chimney Hollow near Carter Lake.

The Windy Gap Project was first proposed in 1967 by the cities of Boulder, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland. Built between 1981 and 1985 and located on the West Slope near Granby, Windy Gap consists of a diversion dam on the Colorado River, a pump plant and a 6-mile pipeline to Lake Granby, the largest storage reservoir in the Colorado-Big Thompson Project system.

During wet periods when Lake Granby is full, the Windy Gap Pump Plant cannot operate due to the

absence of reservoir storage for Windy Gap Project water. If constructed as proposed, Chimney Hollow Reservoir would fill this new storage space need.

Northern Water’s Municipal Subdistrict is coordinating the Windy Gap Firming Project on behalf of the project’s 13 participants.

As part of the WGFP’s ongoing permit phase, the Subdistrict and Reclamation negotiated a new carriage contract to transport Windy Gap Project water through the C-BT Project facilities to Chimney Hollow Reservoir. The new contract was signed in December at Northern Water’s Berthoud headquarters.

Remaining permitting steps include acquisition of both an Army Corps of Engineers 404 permit and a State Water Quality Control Commission 401 certification. Additional items include amending the Windy Gap water rights to incorporate a variety of agreements and permits with other entities associated with the WGFP.

If all goes well, Chimney Hollow Reservoir’s design phase may be underway by summer of 2015.

For the latest news and information on the Windy Gap Firming Project visit chimneyhollow.org.


PROJECT UPDATE

Granby hydroConstruction nears for Northern Water’s second hydropower plant

While the Colorado-Big Thompson Project may be best-known for the supplemental water it collects and diverts from the

Colorado River basin to Northeastern Colorado, the project is also an important source of hydroelectricity.

The C-BT Project’s seven hydropower plants generate 770 million kilowatt-hours of “green” energy each year. An eighth plant at Lake Granby is now in the design phase.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates all of the C-BT Project’s power facilities, with the exception of the Robert V. Trout Hydropower Plant at Carter Lake, which is owned and operated by Northern Water. The proposed Granby Hydropower Plant would be Northern Water’s second hydropower facility.

Hydropower produces clean electricity by harnessing energy derived from falling or flowing water. C-BT power facilities offset the equivalent of 1.52 billion pounds of carbon dioxide produced by coal-fired power plants each year (2000 U.S. Department of Energy statistics).

Northern Water has been studying a second hydropower plant at Lake Granby for several years. Reclamation granted Northern Water a preliminary Lease of Power Privilege in September 2011 to pursue permits and to build the Granby Hydropower Plant.

The LOPP provides non-federal entities like Northern Water the right to use a Reclamation facility – Lake Granby – to generate hydropower.

“If we had not build a hydropower plant at Carter Lake and started the process with the Granby hydropower plant, someone else would have,” said Project Manager Carl Brouwer. “Given Northern Water’s access to C-BT Project reservoirs and being a partner with Reclamation, it made sense for us to pursue these projects.”

To build the Granby Hydropower Plant, Northern Water requested a low-interest 30-year loan through the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The loan is expected to close by the end of 2014, and the total project cost is estimated at $5.7 million.

Construction will begin in the summer or early fall of 2015, including the tunnel penstock and powerhouse. The two Francis Turbines, provided by Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon, Ltd., England, should arrive by the spring of 2016. These are the same brand of turbines and provider used at the Trout Hydropower Plant.

In terms of the hydropower plants at Lake Granby and Carter Lake, “Northern Water has the capability to operate and maintain these facilities and control them using SCADA,” Brouwer continued.

Supervisory control and data acquisition, or “SCADA,” is a computer-based system to remotely monitor, operate and control a hydropower plant. By using SCADA, additional Northern Water staff will not be needed to operate the Granby Hydropower Plant.

When completed, the Granby hydropower plant will produce a maximum of 5 million kilowatt-hours per year. In comparison, the Trout Hydropower Plant produces 7 to 10 million kilowatt-hours per year.

Mountain Parks Electric, Inc., based in Granby, Colo., will contract with Northern Water to purchase the hydropower generated at the plant. Mountain Parks provides power to all of Grand and Jackson counties and parts of Summit, Larimer and Routt counties.

The Granby hydropower plant will be the second West Slope hydropower plant in the C-BT Project. The Green Mountain Power Plant, located at the base of the Green Mountain Reservoir dam, started producing power in May 1943.

If all goes according to plan, the Granby Hydropower Plant should be online May 1, 2016.

Granby Dam and spillway. The powerhouse for the Granby Hydropower Project will be located at the base of Granby Dam and near the spillway.


BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Trowbridge appointed to Board

Board reappointments

Dale Trowbridge has been appointed to the Northern Water and Municipal Subdistrict Boards of Directors. He succeeds retiring Weld County Director Jerry Winters. Trowbridge will fill the remaining year left on Winters’ term,

which expires in September 2015. Winters, a Greeley attorney, retired after serving on both the Northern Water and Municipal Subdistrict boards for 19 years. Winters was appointed in 1995 and announced his retirement in June 2014.

“Jerry was a very valuable and well respected member of the Board and will be greatly missed,” said Northern Water General Manager Eric Wilkinson. “We look forward to having Dale serve on the Board and benefiting from the knowledge and experience he brings.”

Trowbridge is the general manager of the New Cache La Poudre Irrigating Company and its subsidiaries. He has 20 years of experience managing irrigation and reservoir facilities and many years as a farmer and cattle feeder in the region. His background also includes managing an underground water users association and operating a well augmentation company. Trowbridge currently participates in the basin-wide Poudre Runs Through It, a group seeking ways for agricultural, urban and environmental interests to make the Poudre River a healthy, working river. He is also a director of the Cache La Poudre Water Users Association.

“I’m excited to be involved in such an important part of our community and region,” said Trowbridge. “Water is absolutely critical to the ongoing discussion surrounding the agricultural/urban interface and growth issues. Northern Water plays an integral role in addressing the issues and helping find solutions to meet the needs of our communities and our farmers and businesses.”

Three directors were reappointed to 4-year terms on the Northern Water and Municipal Subdistrict boards in September - Sue Ellen Harrison, Boulder County; Kenton Brunner, Weld County and Brad Stromberger, Logan County. Brunner has served 20 years on the Boards, while Stromberger and Harrison are each serving their second full terms.

The 12-member Northern Water Board represents portions of eight Northeastern Colorado counties: Boulder, Larimer, Weld, Morgan, Washington, Logan, Sedwick and Broomfield. Directors govern and set policy and direct management, staff and legal counsel.

Director Harrison has 30 plus years of experience as an attorney. Director Brunner is a retired farmer from Windsor. Director Stromberger farms near Iliff and was instrumental in forming the Lower Logan Well Users’ well augmentation plan.

Left to right:Sue Ellen Harrison, Kenton Brunner and Brad Stromberger


The Great DivideThe Great Divide, a pending feature-length documentary film, will

illustrate the history and significance of water in Colorado and the West. Emmy award-winning Havey Productions, in association with Colorado

Humanities, is producing the film. Northern Water and others are co-sponsoring the project.

One of the film’s goals is to raise public awareness, understanding and appreciation of Colorado’s water heritage.

“The Great Divide will play a very large role in remedying the unfortunate version of amnesia by which Westerners take their access to water completely for granted,” said Patty Limerick, faculty director and board chair of the University of Colorado’s Center of the American West. “This film offers a very promising way to restore or create an appropriate sense of wonder over the arrangements that support human settlement in this state.”

The film will include historical footage to help illustrate the timeless influence of water in both connecting and dividing our arid state.

Another goal of the film is to initiate an informed public discussion of the critical water supply issues Colorado faces in both its near and long-term future.

The project, still in the filming and editing stages, should be complete by spring 2015. KUSA Channel 9 recently become the media sponsor and will broadcast the film.

For more information visit haveypro.com.

As the end of 2014 approaches, the Northern Integrated Supply Project is close to reaching its next major goal: completion of the project’s supplemental draft environmental impact statement.

The SDEIS, which began in February 2009, has now consumed more time than the DEIS, which commenced in April 2004. Few envisioned the SDEIS would take longer than the DEIS, but the federal permitting process is nothing if not exhaustive in detail.

“It’s fair to say that no one felt it would take this long,” said NISP Project Manager Carl Brouwer. “But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is being as absolutely thorough as it can be in studying the project and its potential impacts.”

ERO Resources, lead consultant for the permitting process, is working with the Corps, the lead federal agency, to prepare the supplemental study.

The SDEIS is not a complete redo of the original DEIS document. Instead, the SDEIS is a more detailed examination of some of two dozen environmental analyses that were prepared for the DEIS.

This includes a closer look at water quality, hydrologic impacts, as well as riparian and aquatic habitats. In addition, the consultants and the Corps are working to make the document as reader-friendly as possible.

Northern Water is also developing a mitigation plan for submission to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department. CPW will prepare a state fish and wildlife mitigation plan for NISP. This should begin soon after the Corps releases the SDEIS to the public sometime in 2015.

For additional information or to sign up for NISP updates please go to gladereservoir.org.

NISP update: supplemental EIS nears completion

Northern Integrated Supply Project

NISP

NEWS BRIEFS

Northern Water’swebsite has new pagesNorthern Water’s website (northernwater.org) has several new sections:

• Watershed & Forest Health (northernwater.org/WatershedHealth) is a new five-page section on efforts to restore forest and watershed health after wildfires in Colorado-Big Thompson Project watersheds. This section also discusses efforts to address the impacts of possible future fires.• Southern Water Supply Project II (northernwater.org/SWSPII) has updates, a GIS map and contact information for the Southern Water Supply Project II, a 20-mile pipeline that will extend from Carter Lake to the City of Boulder’s water treatment plant at Boulder Reservoir.• Water Temperature Data (northernwater.org/TemperatureData) is a four-page section containing archived (2007-2013) temperature readings from 25 gauges on the Colorado, Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson rivers and St. Vrain Creek.

Join the Conversation

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RATE STUDY

New rate structure implemented

For more than eight months in 2013 and 2014, Northern Water conducted a rate study to examine potential adjustments to the organization’s rate structure, primarily water assessment rates.

The study determined rate adjustments were necessary to ensure Northern Water’s future financial health, and to meet its Colorado-Big Thompson Project operation and maintenance commitments.

In conjunction with the rate study, Northern Water held two allottee informational meetings and a two-day public hearing. The rate study was also discussed during numerous Northern Water Board meetings.

As a result of the rate study, associated meetings and discussions, the Northern Water Board increased fiscal year 2015 water assessments, passed two resolutions outlining its general rate-setting objectives (ResolutionD-1237-07-14) and provided a range of potential assessments for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 (ResolutionD-1237-08-14).

Operating expenses outpace revenuesNorthern Water has historically maintained a solid financial position to address its current and future fiscal needs.

Recently however, operating expenses have outpaced revenues.Unpredictable national and regional economic conditions since 2008 have impacted Northern Water’s revenue, resulting

in several years of flat property tax revenues. Simultaneously, prior to FY 2013, Northern Water’s directors limited assessment rate increases to approximately 3 percent per year (pre-recession levels).

Meanwhile the cost of providing services has continued to increase. Factors include aging C-BT Project infrastructure, increased water quality activities and watershed and forest health restoration efforts following recent wildfires. In addition, Northern Water has expensed $300,000 in field mitigation and repairs to the C-BT distribution system in the year since the September 2013 floods.

Capital expendituresSeveral of Northern Water’s recent large capital expenditures include:

• Platte River Endangered Species Recovery Program and Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program: both are multi-year efforts to protect and restore endangered species and their habitats in two river basins. As a part of the Upper Colorado River program, Upper Colorado River users are releasing 10,825 acre-feet of water annually into

the Colorado River for delivery to critical reaches near Grand Junction. Half of this water is released from Lake Granby on behalf of East Slope transbasin water users, at a total cost of $17.2 million. All of these costs were initially borne by Northern Water. Other East Slope transbasin water users then repaid Northern Water $8.9 million in FY 2013 (See Figure 1) for their portions of the program, putting Northern Water’s commitment to the project at $8.3 million.

• Carter Lake Outlet: the new $12 million Carter Lake Outlet project, completed in 2008, improved Northern Water’s ability to deliver water year-round and added system redundancy. In addition, the gates on the original outlet, built in the 1950s, were refurbished in 2013 at a cost of $322,000.

• Pole Hill Canal replacement: the $10.3 million U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project replaced the Pole Hill Canal in 2011. Northern Water funded 50 percent of this project. The project consisted of removing the existing concrete lining and structures, installing pre-fabricated concrete box culvert sections, ladders, float systems, guardrails and fences and constructing gravel roads. The original Pole Hill Canal was built in 1952.

Water quality programNorthern Water’s Water Quality program has expanded significantly

since its inception in 1991 to include water quality monitoring, studies and coordinating with numerous federal, state and local organizations and stakeholders.


RATE STUDY

With population growth along the northern Front Range, ownership of C-BT Project units has increasingly shifted from agricultural to domestic, municipal and industrial water users. The C-BT Project is a primary source of drinking water for most municipalities it serves. Protecting C-BT watersheds is particularly important as drinking water treatment standards become more stringent.

Northern Water has spent nearly $2 million per year on its water quality program over the last several years, with about a quarter of that cost reimbursed by Reclamation.

Epic forest fires & watershed management Following epic forest fires in 2012 and 2013, Northern

Water and its partner agencies (Reclamation, the Colorado State Forest Service and the U.S. Forest Service) responded to proactively manage forests and watersheds before fires occur, and to protect water supplies after fires occur.

These efforts include initiating and actively participating in the C-BT Headwaters Partnership, a multi-agency effort to proactively improve the health and resiliency of forests and watersheds, and to prepare for post-wildfire activities in C-BT watersheds.

Northern Water has spent approximately $330,000 over the first two years of the C-BT Headwaters Partnership on planning and fuel reduction projects. Northern Water

anticipates spending nearly $300,000 per year over the next several years to address forest health conditions that may affect C-BT water supplies.

Figure 1

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Northern Water Financial Summary

Surplus/DeficiencyTotal RevenueTotal Expenses

2013 revenue and surplus do not include a one-time $8.9 million repayment to Northern Water from other East Slope water users for Upper Colorado Recovery Program.

Crews install Pole Hill Canal box culvert sections.

CALENDAR

Northern Water220 Water AveBerthoud, Colorado 80513

Address service requested

Four States Irrigation Council 62nd Annual Meeting Jan. 14-16, 2015, Hilton Fort Collins www.4-states-irrigation.org

Colorado Farm ShowJan. 27-29, 2015, Island Grove Regional Park, Greeleywww.coloradofarmshow.com

Colorado Water Congress Annual ConventionJan. 28-30, 2015, Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center 303-837-0812 or www.cowatercongress.org

Water Tables 2015 Jan. 29, 2015, Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Centerhttp://lib.colostate.edu/archives/water/water-tables/2015

Poudre River ForumJan. 31, 2015, The Ranch in Lovelandwww.cwi.colostate.edu/thepoudrerunsthroughit

Colorado Rural Water Association Annual ConferenceApril 13-15, 2015, Crowne Plaza Convention Center in Denver 303-371-9494 or www.crwa.net

American Water Resources Association Spring ConferenceMar. 30 - Apr. 1, 2015, Airport Hilton in Los Angeleswww.awra.org

Spring Conservation Gardens FairMay 16, 2015, Northern Water800-369-7246 or www.northernwater.org

December 2014 Waternews

Documents

Transcript of December 2014 Waternews