DENVER — A group of Larimer County residents opposed to a 70-mile pipeline project that will deliver Poudre River water to Thornton in the coming years said Monday night they’ll appeal a district judge’s ruling after she dismissed their lawsuit last week.
Save The Proudre had filed suit against the Larimer County Board of Commissioners in July of last year after the Board unanimously approved the final piece of the Thornton pipeline project just two months prior.
- Denver7 has been following this story since plans to build the pipeline raised concerns from neighbors in Larimer County. Watch our report from early 2018 in the video player below:
Brett Henry, who served as interim city manager for the City of Thornton last year, told Denver7 at the time that the project was needed to keep up with the city’s booming population. He called it “the most impactful, most important project that Thornton's ever undertaken.”
The pipeline — most of which is either in design, under construction or already complete — will head east from the Poudre River and down Interstate 25.
Section F, which runs a little over 10 miles through Larimer County, has been the missing piece and the part bubbling up the most controversy.
Though the pipeline itself impacts just 17 properties in Larimer County, several residents told the Board of County Commissioners last year they shouldn’t be inconvenienced by Thornton’s development needs.
But Thornton officials said one of the solutions proposed by residents, which is to keep the water in the Poudre River until it's further downstream near I-25, doesn’t work for them because it then becomes a water quality issue — the further the water must travel, the more contaminated and polluted it becomes, especially passing through the City of Fort Collins. City officials argue that would add to the cost of water treatment.
In their lawsuit, Save the Poudre — one of two groups opposed to the project — argued the Board “exceeded its jurisdiction or abused its discretion” in approving Thornton’s application for the pipeline project.
The group also argued that the Board “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” when approving the project last year and hoped the court would side with them to cancel the approval of the project.
In her July 3 ruling, however, Larimer County District Court Judge C. Michelle Brinegar said there was “nothing in the Record to support that the Board abused its discretion by not requiring Thornton to present the Poudre River Option as a reasonable alternative.”
“There is competent evidence in the Record to support the Board’s conclusion that the current TWP Permit application showed Thornton adequately considered reasonable siting and design alternatives or showed why those reasonable alternatives were not available or feasible,” Brinegar wrote.
The judge said the city evaluated 10 alternative routes according to 11 criteria and that the Poudre River Option favored by opposing residents “was not determined to be a reasonable option, and therefore, was not part of Thornton’s application.”
Brinegar therefore ruled that the Board’s differing conclusions when determining those alternative routes “cannot be said to be arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion,” and said that the Board “did not misapply the law or abuse its discretion in determining that Thornton had adequately complied” with Larimer County Land Use Code when approving the project.
While Save The Poudre argued in court that the Board failed to consider the Poudre River Option, which they said was the “best alternative available,” Judge Brinegar argued that the Land of Use Code does not require the Board to consider all possible alternatives.
“Instead, it requires only that “[t]he applicant has adequately considered reasonable siting and design alternatives . . . or shown why such [reasonable] alternatives are not available or not feasible.”
In throwing out Save The Poudre’s lawsuit, Brinegar said the group appeared to challenge the permit approval “not because there is no competent evidence in the Record to support its decision, but because they disagree with the Board’s conclusions,” but ultimately argued that the Board “considered reasonable siting and design alternatives based on Thornton’s application and determined that the preferred plan was the best alternative available within the proposed options.”
“We believe the court’s ruling contains errors and we are considering an appeal,” said Gary Wockner with Save The Poudre in a statement Monday night. “In addition, Thornton has caused incredible acrimony in Larimer County by pounding this pipeline down the throats of neighborhoods instead of using the Poudre River Option that would enhance the health and recreational opportunities of the Poudre."
Wockner said the group feels like the city’s proposed mitigation fund, which would allow for the purchase of two of the eight farms along the pipeline route “feels more like a slap in the face rather than an earnest offering to heal the conflict and improve the River in exchange for their $500 million project to send 14,000 acre feet of Poudre water to the Denver suburb.”
“Thornton had the opportunity to do the right thing and collaborate to help restore the river through Fort Collins, but instead chose the path of conflict and litigation that continues to drain the river,” Wockner said. He did not say when an appeal would be filed.
As for when the pipeline could start transporting water to Thornton? Officials estimate that could start by the end of 2027.
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