Yesterday was a hoot. The workshop “Pathways to a Pool – How to Make Voluntary Conservation Add Up” was a firehose of information and ideas as to how Colorado can work to shore up storage on the Colorado River and keep agriculture whole. Another highlight was Governor Polis’ recap of what the state has accomplished during his time in office and his introduction of ColoradoRiver.com.
Click the link to read the article on the Fort Collins Coloradoan website (Rebecca Powell). Here’s an excerpt:
August 18, 2025
Key Points
- Save The Poudre will not appeal a judge’s ruling allowing Thornton’s pipeline project to proceed.
- The environmental advocacy group focused on the Poudre River contends Colorado water law, created more than 100 years ago, is not in line with public values today.
- Save The Poudre urges Thornton to take a more active role in protecting and restoring the Poudre River
The environmental advocacy group that seeks to protect the Poudre River says it will not appeal a judge’s ruling that allowed the project to proceed. The project is set to bring water from the Poudre to Thornton via a pipeline running through Larimer, Weld and Adams counties.,Larimer County commissioners, and the planning commission before them, approved the pipeline permit in 2024. Then Save The Poudre sued, saying the board of commissioners exceeded its jurisdiction and abused its discretion when it granted the permit…
In announcing the decision not to appeal the judge’s ruling, Save The Poudre Executive Director Gary Wockner said Colorado’s water law gives agencies the right to drain rivers, and it doesn’t seem like a wise use of resources to appeal when a challenge would likely fail…
Todd Barnes, communications director for the city of Thornton, noted the deadline to appeal is still ahead, on Aug. 21. He said Thornton doesn’t plan to issue a statement about the development as of now…Thornton and Northern Water have planned to co-locate a few miles of their pipelines to reduce disruption. But Barnes said Thornton has heard nothing concrete from NISP. Regardless, he said, the city will follow through with all of the requirements of its permit, which includes co-location.
Here’s the statement from Save the Poudre:
