A lawsuit seeking to halt construction of the Windy Gap Firming Project's Chimney Hollow Reservoir southwest of Loveland would not necessarily affect Longmont, Colo.'s proposal to sell $36.3 million in bonds to help cover Longmont's share of the project's costs — if voters approve that measure.
Dale Rademacher, Longmont's general manager of public works and natural resources, said the city's voters are being asked in the Nov. 7 election to consider whether to give their authorization to Longmont to issue the bonds eventually.
If voters approve that measure — Question 2J on the Longmont ballot — "it's not our intent to go out and sell the bonds immediately, and it never was," Rademacher said on Friday.
The bonds would not actually be sold until a time that is closer to the actual start of constructing the proposed storage reservoir, Rademacher said, which he said is currently expected to begin in the fall or winter of 2018.
He said he did not know, however, whether the lawsuit filed Thursday would delay the current construction timetable. He referred questions about the lawsuit itself to Northern Water, the agency overseeing the project to store water diverted from the Colorado River into the reservoir and stored there for Longmont and other participants in the overall Windy Gap trans-mountain water diversion system,
The U.S. District Court lawsuit, filed Thursday by a coalition of environmental groups against the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, claims those agencies violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act in approving the project.
Northern Water spokesman Brian Werner said on Thursday that he was confident that the environmental renewal process that preceded federal approval of the project was sound.
If Longmont's voters authorize issuing up to $36.3 million in bonds — and if the plaintiffs lose their bid to halt the project — the bonds would be backed by such non-tax revenues as business and residential water customers' rate payments.
Longmont's cost of owning up to 10,000 acre-feet of the 90,000 acre feet to be stored in that Chimney Hollow Reservoir is estimated at $49.5 million, and the city has invested $5.1 million to date, leaving an estimated remaining $44.4 million contribution requirement.
If voters approve Longmont's proposed bond-financing proposal, the city expects to increase water rates by 13 percent in 2018 and 10 percent in 2019 to begin making the bonds' annual principal and interest payments.
Representatives of two of the other utilities that hope to store water in Chimney Hollow said on Thursday that if a lawsuit filed to halt the reservoir is successful it may not stop Windy Gap water from being diverted from the Colorado River, and a leading conservation group says the lawsuit will hurt the river not help it.
"It could mean that instead of one big project that holds the 90,000 acre feet, participants use a bunch of smaller options (for water storage)," said Michael Cook, district manager of the Little Thompson Water District, one of 13 participants in the reservoir project led by Northern Water.
The participants already own the supply of water, called Windy Gap, that would be diverted into the reservoir. However, they do not have a place to store it during years when water is plentiful for use in dry years when it is needed.
This reservoir would provide that storage to firm up the supply, which is why it also is called the Windy Gap Firming project.
The Little Thompson Water District accounts for about 6 percent of the overall project and has been using some of its Windy Gap water each year.
The city of Loveland, which owns 10.5 percent of the water, has used it infrequently but is relying on the water, which it purchased with money from a bond, for future water needs as the city grows.
The city needs a place to store this water to firm up the supply and would be forced to look at other storage options for its Windy Gap water if the lawsuit were to prevail, said Larry Howard, the city's water resources manager.
"This is a concern," Howard said, explaining that the water itself is already "bought and paid for" and the issue would be storage.
"We have a strong investment in the Windy Gap project."
However, he expressed confidence that the 14-year permitting process was sound and that the reservoir project will go forward despite the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday.
An attorney for Trout Unlimited, too, expressed doubt that the lawsuit will stop the project, stating that, despite the lawsuit, water will continue to be diverted from the Colorado River as populations grow and other solutions are needed to turn the tide.
"This lawsuit likely won't stop Windy Gap, but it could succeed in delaying real solutions to the problems," Mely Whiting, attorney for Trout Unlimited, said in a written statement. Trout Unlimited was a leading participant in negotiations for mitigation and conservation efforts included in the project.
"Habitat restoration projects and other solutions are already being implemented and showing great success in improving the health of the Colorado River. That's why many conservation groups who've been working the longest on this problem support our collaborative approach.
"These solutions offer the best hope for keeping the valuable resources of the Upper Colorado alive. This short-sighted lawsuit would only delay progress."
The lawsuit was filed by Save the Colorado, Save the Poudre, WildEarth Guardians, Living Rivers and the Waterkeeper Alliance, a group of nonprofit environmental groups that have long opposed the project.
Besides Longmont, Loveland and the Little Thompson Water District, other participants in the overall Windy Gap trans-mountain water diversion system include Broomfield, Erie, Louisville, Lafayette, Superior, Evans, Fort Collins, Fort Lupton and Greeley.
