Click the link to read the article on the Fort Collins Coloradoan website (Rebecca Powell). Here’s an excerpt:
July 12, 2024
Save The Poudre is suing the city of Thornton and the Larimer County commissioners. The lawsuit, filed in Larimer County District Court, specifically names Commissioners John Kefalas, Jody Shadduck-McNally and Kristin Stephens. It asks the court to find that the board exceeded its jurisdiction and/or abused its discretion in granting permission for a 10-mile water pipeline that would convey Poudre River water to Thornton…
The lawsuit said Save The Poudre was denied due process rights because it and members of the public weren’t allowed to combine public comments into an extended group presentation exceeding three minutes, while the commissioners placed no time limits on Thornton’s presentations, “which lasted hours and allowed for group presentations.” It said the board erred in not requiring Thornton to present an alternative that would use the Poudre River itself to convey the water and not requiring presentations outlining alternative water diversion locations.
The lawsuit also cited several sections of the county’s land use code that it believes Thornton’s application did not meet. Save The Poudre alleges the project:
- does not have “benefits, in terms of physical improvements, enhanced services, or environmental impacts, of the proposed project” that “outweigh the losses of any natural resources or reduction of productivity of agricultural lands.”
- does not, “to the greatest extent possible,” mitigate impacts to the environment and natural resources.
- will “exacerbate or worsen climate change.”
- does not “mitigate impacts on rivers, streams and wetlands to the greatest extent possible.”
- “will have a significant impact on natural resources of statewide importance.”
- does not significantly mitigate and will have significantly adverse impacts on water quality and quantity in the Poudre River.
- does not “implement the vision and policies of the Larimer County Comprehensive Plan.”
- does not “regulate development in a manner consistent with legitimate environmental concerns.”
- does not “reflect principles of resource stewardship and conservation.”
The lawsuit also states the board exceeded its jurisdiction and/or abused its discretion by not requiring “complete co-location of the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) pipeline, a separate project also set to run through Larimer County. And it says the board was wrong in its finding that water diversion and water right are beyond the scope of the 1041 review.