Click the link to read the article on the Fort Collins Coloradoan website (Jacy Marmaduke). Here’s an excerpt:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to release the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project next year, followed by a record of decision one or two years later. As those milestones approach, details about the project’s final cost, design and environmental impacts are coming into sharper focus. The city now expects the expansion to cost $150 million, possibly more, and begin three years of construction by about 2026.
The expansion would involve enlarging the existing Halligan Reservoir from 6,400 acre-feet to 14,600 acre-feet. The city plans to rebuild, and raise by 25 feet, the existing dam on the North Fork of the Poudre River about 24 miles upstream of Gateway Natural Area. The expansion would reduce flows on portions of the North Fork and mainstem Poudre River by 1% to 6% during May and June. During the rest of the year, reservoir releases associated with the project would address dry spots on the North Fork.
The goal of expanding the reservoir is to increase Fort Collins Utilities’ storage capacity for Poudre River water, which makes up about half of the city’s water supply…
The projected cost of the project has quadrupled in the last eight years as the permitting process has dragged on, best practices for dam design and environmental mitigation have evolved, and the city has done more thorough estimations of the various costs associated with the reservoir expansion.