The Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) Update

Last week Brian Werner, Public Information Officer and Head of Communications and Records for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, gave us an update on the Northern Integrated Supply Project, known as NISP.  Continued population growth in Northern Colorado will require either additional supplies of water, or reallocation of water from agriculture and other uses.    

According to Brian, NISP is designed to store excess water currently leaving the state in years of abundance, and provide a more consistent flow through Fort Collins in all years through an exchange with two local ditch companies.  Since 2009, more than 4 million acre-feet of water over and above the legal requirements have left the state that could have been stored and used in dryer years. 

The project consists of two reservoirs (Glade and Galeton) plus supply and distribution facilities.  When fully implemented, NISP is designed to supply 15 Northern Front Range water partners with 40,000 acre-feet per year of new, reliable water supplies.  Brian also highlighted the Windy Gap Firming Project intended to store Colorado water in the Chimney Hollow Reservoir to be located near Carter Lake.  The Windy Gap is not related to NISP, although both are helping address Front Range needs.