Gross Reservoir Expansion Must Pause For County Permit

BOULDER, CO – Boulder County officials have thrown up a hurdle in Denver Water’s race to expand Gross Reservoir.

After a determination on Monday by Boulder County Land Use Director Dale Case, Denver Water must seek a permit and submit to a review under the Boulder County Land Use Code in order to go forward with the planned expansion. Case’s analysis was in response to an Oct. 12 Denver Water request that he officially determine whether Boulder’s code applied to the Gross Reservoir project, according to a press release from Boulder County.

The reservoir lies entirely on land in unincorporated Boulder County, and the county has previously intervened against the project in other phases of the permitting process. Case’s determination means that Denver Water must obtain a permit under Article 8 of the county’s code before continuing.

The permit review would allow the Boulder County Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners to conduct public hearings and review the project application in light of county code, according to a county statement.

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“Expansion of the reservoir is essential to providing environmental benefits across the state and the reliability of Denver Water’s system that serves a quarter of the state’s population,” said Denver Water CEO Jim Lochhead in a statement. “Even though it’s not operated for flood control purposes, Gross Reservoir provided valuable flood control in the 1969 and 2013 flood events.”

Denver Water has previously contended that its project should be exempt from the Boulder County permitting requirement, and now has the opportunity to appeal Case’s decision to the Board of County Commissioners.

Although Denver Water was granted a federal permit for the project by the Army Corps of Engineers in July 2017, it still must get approval on a hydropower license amendment application from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Boulder County intervened in the FERC application, identifying nearly 20 points of contention.

Denver Water seeks to raise the Gross Reservoir dam by 131 feet, according to the project website, which would allow the reservoir capacity to increase by 77,000 acre-feet. Proponents say that the extra capacity will help prevent future shortages during droughts and help offset an imbalance in their North-South collection system, and contend that the project will be executed in such as way that it will enhance the watershed and improve aquatic habitat.

Opposition activists cite an estimate that the project would require the removal of 200,000 trees and could potentially significantly reduce the flow of creeks and tributaries, as well as release contaminants into local waterways.

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Image courtesy Boulder County