Environmenal report on water project due Wednesday

The Environmental Impact Statement for the Northern Integrated Supply Project will be released Wednesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Northern Integrated Supply Project -- NISP -- is a regional water supply project coordinated by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District on behalf of 15 northeastern Colorado communities and water providers. It is designed to provide those participants each year with 40,000 acre-feet of new, reliable municipal water supply.

The planned facilities for the $400 million project include Glade and Galeton reservoirs, a pumping facility and pipeline to deliver water for exchange with two irrigation companies. The project will also provide improvements to an existing canal to fill Glade Reservoir, planned northwest of Fort Collins, just north of Ted's Place.

Glade Reservoir, at completion, will hold 170,000 acre-feet of water, making it slightly larger than Horsetooth Reservoir, while the Galeton Reservoir, planned east of Ault along Colo. 14, will hold 40,000 acre-feet and would be built after Glade is complete.

Opponents of the project, particularly a group in Fort Collins calling itself Save the Poudre, worry that the diversion of water from the Poudre to Glade Reservoir will drastically dimish the river's waterflow through the city.