This post is unedited from the 2018 election.
Barry Wilson has met with the Chief Planner in Larimer County, the Chief Planner in Windsor, and the Project Manager for the Thornton Water Project (TWP) regarding TWP’s impact to Windsor residents along the CR-13 corridor. Updates will be posted here and on Nextdoor.com.
If you live along Windsor’s CR-13 corridor, you should be aware of the Thornton Water Project (TWP). Thornton purchased several Weld County farms in the 1980’s for the water rights. They converted the water rights from agricultural water to municipal water in the 1990’s. The process is called “Buy & Dry”. They are planning a 26-mile buried 48-inch water pipeline that will follow CR-13 through Windsor. They are planning to start building a pipeline in 2019 and deliver water in 2025.
The pipeline will be installed on the east side of CR-13 from Crossroads to the Poudre River. After crossing the river on the east side of the road, the pipeline will go under CR-13 and travel north along the west side of CR-13. The pipeline has already been installed under New Liberty Road.
A group in Fort Collins is opposing the plan as it draws water from the Poudre River before the river flows through Fort Collins. They have proposed that Thornton leave the water in the Poudre River and then withdraw the water from the Poudre River after it flows through Fort Collins, near CR-13 in Windsor. Barry Wilson has verified that this is not going to happen.
The water Thornton purchased and is transporting has already been taken from the Poudre River. TWP is not taking any water from the Poudre River that isn’t already coming out. There is no further impact on the Poudre River.
Thornton has proposed a 40 million gallon per day pump, 1-million gallon above ground steel water tank, blow-off assemblies, air release vaults, isolation valve vaults, etc. to be installed in Larimer County north of Fort Collins.
The entire plan will need to be approved by the Larimer County Commissioners, Weld County Commissioners, and various municipalities along the way, including Windsor.
The pipeline will be installed in the fields next to CR-13, not under the road. There will be truck and construction traffic, but the road, houses, and subdivisions along CR-13 will not be impacted directly other than the one CR-13 crossing where there are no homes.
It is of extreme importance that the Town of Windsor obtain the right-of-way during this process to expand CR-13 to four lanes in the future. It will be much more difficult to obtain these rights after the pipeline is installed, the RainDance development is underway, etc. Expanding CR-13 to four lanes is in the Master Plan, but there is no timeline and Windsor needs to obtain the right-of-way before expanding.
Contact Barry Wilson with questions: (970) 518-2220.