From the Loveland Reporter-Herald (Pamela Dickman):
“This [the Colorado River] is not a healthy river,” [the director of the Colorado Division of Wildlife] Tom Remington said at a meeting in Loveland last week. “The question is how do we fix the river?”[…]
Northern Water, the water conservancy district that wants to build the reservoir [Chimney Hollow — part of the Windy Gap Firming Project], is required to work with the Colorado Division of Wildlife to mitigate any additional impacts to wildlife and the river. To accomplish this, the Division of Wildlife plans to bring planners together with biologists, government officials, conservation groups and others with a stake in the river. Maybe together, they can go one step beyond maintaining the river as it is to fixing problems from past water projects, Remington said.
The Division of Wildlife cannot prevent the district from taking the water, but it can try to mitigate the impact on wildlife, said wildlife commissioner Bob Streeter of Fort Collins. “We’re looking at this as an opportunity to fix a problem,” added Remington. “It leads to a better river down the road instead of just maintaining the current condition, which is all Northern Water is required to do.”
More coverage from the Summit County Citizen’s Voice. From the article:
…the [Wildlife] Commissioners were briefed on the potential impacts of the Windy Gap Firming Project on aquatic resources and heard input from landowners and fishing advocates about their concerns.
The Windy Gap Firming Project would allow the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District to capture more of the water rights its owns on the West Slope for storage in a new reservoir west of Carter Lake in Loveland to provide additional reliability to its system.
The project has been undergoing review under the National Environmental Policy Act since 2003. West of the Divide, impacts could include a decrease of water level in Lake Granby, a reduction in trout habitat in the Colorado River due to lower stream flows and increases in water temperature. There would also likely be a reduction in river flows preferred by rafters and kayakers, with a potential impact on anglers who fish from personal floatation equipment. Fisheries east of the Continental Divide would benefit from potential development of a new flat-water fishery in the proposed Chimney Hollow Reservoir.
Later this fall, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District will present a plan to mitigate impacts from the project to the Wildlife Commission, which will need to approve or deny the plan within 60 days unless Northern consents to an extension.
The wildlife commission will take more public input on the Windy Gap project at an Oct. 21 meeting in Granby. “This is obviously a very, very important issue and our commissioners are anxious to learn more about how the impacts of this project can be mitigated,” Glenn said.