For Immediate Release
Save The Poudre Coalition: Poudre Waterkeeper
January 22, 2010
www.SaveThePoudre.org
Contact: Gary Wockner, 970-218-8310
Fort Collins Loveland Water District Wants Aaron Million's Water
District seems intent on destroying the rivers of the American West
Fort Collins, CO -- On Thursday, January 21, 2010, Aaron Million finally released the names of some of the interested participants in his massive water delivery scheme that proposes to pump and pipe hundreds of thousands of acre feet of water from the Green River in Wyoming to the Front Range of Colorado. One of those names is the Fort Collins Loveland Water District (FCLWD), a district that covers the very southern portion of Fort Collins, the northern portion of Loveland, and the rural area in between the two cities.
In a newspaper article today in the Wyoming Tribune, the FCLWD general manager stated: "We're interested in any water project that could bring water into northern Colorado," DiTullio said. "It doesn't have to be (Million's); we're into any of them."
(article here: http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_44e2b273-a8bc-5a5b-a099-55f07c3ca61c.html)
FCLWD is also a participant in the highly controversial Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) that will drain and destroy the Cache la Poudre River as it flows through Fort Collins. FCLWD has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars speculating in NISP, and now is speculating in Million's project. Both river-destruction schemes have massive environmental problems and huge coalitions fighting to stop them.
"This water district seems intent on destroying the rivers of Colorado and the American West," said Gary Wockner of the Save The Poudre Coalition. "Conservation, good land-use planning, and working with northern Colorado farmers can solve the district's water problems. But instead, they're preying on the West's rivers. If you live south of Harmony Road in Fort Collins, you need to know that you are paying property taxes and water fees to this district."
The Save The Poudre Coalition has proposed a "Healthy Rivers Alternative" to the NISP project that is less expensive, better preserves farms, and will protect and help restore the Poudre River. A summary of the Healthy Rivers Alternative is here: http://poudreriver.home.comcast.net/~poudreriver/Healthy_Rivers_Alternative.pdf
The City of Fort Collins is not a participant in either Million's project or the Northern Integrated Supply Project.
About Save The Poudre: Poudre Waterkeeper
The Save The Poudre Coalition's mission is to protect and restore the Cache la Poudre River. The Save The Poudre Coalition is made up of 17 national, state, and regional groups including: National Wildlife Federation, Clean Water Action, Defenders of Wildlife, Waterkeeper Alliance, American Rivers, American Whitewater Association, Western Resource Advocates, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Lighthawk, Environment Colorado, Sierra Club – Rocky Mountain Chapter, Fort Collins Audubon Society, Citizen Planners, Wolverine Farm Publishing, Poudre Paddlers, Friends of the Poudre, and the Cache la Poudre River Foundation. Membership in these groups totals over 3 million American citizens.
