The Heat Over Water: Will Glade Reservoir bring us closer to water security or be an example of ecosystem degradation?

The School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES) brings to CSU and the community a CSU panel discussion on the impact of the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) on the Poudre River, and the residents of Fort Collins and the new fifteen communities along the Northern front range of Colorado. The NISP proposes the construction of two reservoirs pulling water from the Poudre River; Glade Reservoir, the larger of the two with a capacity of 170,000 acre-feet of water, would be located northwest of Fort Collins. As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the final Environmental Impact Statement, the debate is back in the spotlight. This 15-year, highly contested water project has brought stakeholders of all areas to the table for a debate on how to best plan for future water security scenarios, and it is now, once again open for public comment. Will this one-billion dollar project be our answer to water security or an example of ecosystem degradation?

Our panelists will weigh the environmental costs and benefits of Glade Reservoir by discussing river health within the context of securing our future water needs.

Panelists:

• LeRoy Poff, Department of Biology
• Reagan Waskom, Director of the Colorado Water Institute
• Ellen Wohl, Department of Geosciences
• Aditi Bhaskar: Associate Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering

The discussion will be moderated by Gene Kelly, Faculty Research Liaison at SoGES, Deputy Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station and Associate Dean of Extension.

The panel discussion, part of a Managing the Planet series, is free of charge and open to the public.