Trout Unlimited / Courtesy Photo
Trout Unlimited / Courtesy Photo
The diversion route for Colorado River around Windy Gap Reservoir in Granby, ten years ago, is now complete.
A consortium of state-owned and commercial water companies announced Monday that they will begin digging dirt on land near U.S. Highway 40 to fill in a portion of the existing reservoir. They will also dredge a new route for Colorado River flow around it.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service has released a Finding of no Significant Impact (FONSI), based on its Environmental Assessment of the Colorado River Connectivity Channel. Kirk Klancke, president, Colorado River Headwaters Chapter, Trout Unlimited, stated that the decision opens the door to construction. It will be completed in 2023 and will provide a new mile-long public fishing access to Colorado.
Trout Unlimited is joined to create the project by The Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Klancke said to Sky-Hi News the project is long overdue for Colorado’s sake. The state has been suffering since Windy Gap was built back in the 1980s. It blocks fish and sediment passage downstream and upstream from the dam. It can also hold water in shallow reservoirs, which can sometimes raise stream temperatures downstream from the dam. On windy days, the soils around the reservoir are stirred in the water to fill the river below with sediments.
Klancke said that the dam caused the Colorado River to be flooded for miles. The interstitial spaces between the rocks below the dam were filled with sediment. Sculpin, a small fish and food source to trout, has disappeared. The giant stonefly, which was another important food source for trout disappeared. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 38% disappeared from macro-invertebrates. The ecosystem has been destroyed from the Williams Fork Reservoir all the way to this dam. They placed a dam right in a mainline, while today it is impossible to get a permit for dams.
The reservoir, which houses water from the Fraser River and Upper Colorado rivers, will be reduced and deepened through the connectivity project. Northern has the rights to 220,000 acre feet of water from Colorado through the Colorado-Big Thompson water diversion agreement. This water is pumped into Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain Reservoir, Grand Lake, and through miles of underground tunnels to many cities on the Front Range.
This concern water entities such as the Upper Colorado River Watershed Group. The agencies have been asked to perform a water accounting in Upper Colorado River Watershed to ensure that sufficient water is available before proceeding with the project.
Andy Miller, President of UCRWG, stated that the group does not oppose the project outright but that it had important questions for the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
Miller said that during the process, we requested a full accounting outlining how current and future basin water flows compare with local, Front Range and downstream water rights. Without a clear picture of the river’s current status, we can’t make decisions like these.
The Colorado Division of Water Resources oversees water rights and represents Colorado in interstate water Compact proceedings. They also monitor stream flow and water use and approve construction and repair of dams. The following was the email that Kevin Rein, the State Engineer for the Colorado Division of Water Resources, sent to the Sky-Hi:
The water court will determine the water right to permit this diversion. The water court will address the question of water availability at the time of the application.
Once the court issues a decree for the diversion with a priority date and a court order, the Division of Water Resources will administer the diversion within the prior appropriation process, just like we do with all Colorado water rights. They can divert if the water rights are able to do so without affecting any water rights that are more senior than them, and if the decree is consistent with all terms, they may. If they cannot, the water rights cannot divert.
Klancke said, “If the water isn’t available, Northern doesn’t get to pump.” The water in the channel will always exist because it is guaranteed by Senate Document 80, which was passed on June 24, 1937 by the 75th Congress. Senate Doc 80 created Lake Granby as well as Shadow Mountain Lake. Lake Granby must release certain flows. These flows must be in the channel, as there are guaranteed flows beneath the dam. They can’t take that water to dry the river below the dam. Because it is guaranteed by Congress, it must go through that channel and continue down the river.
Windy Gap FONSI states that the Upper Colorado River Watershed Groups’ first choice for dam removal would be the Upper Colorado River Watershed Groups, at a cost of $75 million, while the Connectivity Project will cost $27 millions.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service will provide the bulk of those funds. Klancke states that another $1 million comes from Grand County’s Open Lands Rivers and Trails Fund. Klancke also says that Northern has already surpassed the amount it pledged to contribute from its initial $2 million to 4 million.
Klancke states that Northern, which is often referred to as a water buffalo in Grand County because of its interest in diverting water to Grand Range, has been a great supporter of the project.
According to the Natural Resources Conservation Services environmental analysis, the project will have long-term positive impacts on environmental resources (i.e. The project will have long-term positive impacts on the environment (i.e. soil, air and water, animals, plants, human resources, and soil). With the FONSI secured the Natural Resources Conservation Service is now able to pledge funds for construction of the project and may consider granting an additional $9 million.
Grand Countys Board of County Commissioners commended Natural Resources Conservation Services’ work in reaching their decision and recognized the extraordinary work of project partners and individual champions.
This story was updated from a Friday 13 2022 paper print version. Colorado water issues are complex. We will continue to update you on this evolving story.
