HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 06/17/2025 - Memorandum from Donnie Dustin re June 3, 2025 City Council Meeting: Follow-up to Item #11 – First Reading of Ordinance No. 092Utilities
700 Wood. St.
PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522
970-212-2900
utilities@fcgov.com
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MEMORANDUM
Date: June 9, 2025
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager
Nicole Poncelet-Johnson, One Water Executive Director
From: Donnie Dustin, P.E., Senior Water Resources Engineer
RE: June 3, 2025 City Council Meeting: Follow-Up to Item #11 - First Reading of
Ordinance No. 092, 2025, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the Water Fund to
Support Acquisitions of Water Rights to Increase Yield, Reliability, and Resiliency of
the Utilities Water Supplies.
BOTTOM LINE
The purpose of this memo is to address questions that were asked during the June 3, 2025
Regular Meeting on consent agenda item #11 that would approve appropriating prior year
reserves in the Water Fund to support acquisitions of water rights. All Councilmembers were
present and in-person, except for Councilmember Gutowsky who was remote.
DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Although item #11 was not pulled from the consent agenda, the following questions were asked
by a Councilmember during the follow-up which are followed by a response:
Why is 37% more water needed with more dense development planned and nearing
build out of the Utilities water service area?
o The 37% increase mentioned in the Agenda Item Summary (AIS) was based on
projected population growth for the Utilities’ water service area and not an
increase in water demand. The current service area population is approximately
140,000. The future service area population will depend on the level of density.
Based on information from the 2019 City Plan (CP) projections, the service area
population is projected to grow to between 179,000 under more moderate density
Docusign Envelope ID: A862B04C-1B2D-456F-BD67-C9DDEBA0C3B6
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(but higher than existing) and 195,000 under higher density by the year 2070.
This represents a 28-39% growth in population.
o Based on the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers’ analysis in the Halligan Water
Supply Project (HWSP) permitting, the Utilities’ water service area future
demands are projected to be 38,400 acre-feet per year, which is about a 32%
increase from the current water service area treated water demands and other
obligations of approximately 29,000 acre-feet/year. In addition to the projected
population growth, the future demand projections include some increases in large
contractual use (e.g., breweries and other water-intensive industries).
o In addition to meeting future projected growth and its demands, the Halligan
Water Supply Project and acquisition of other water rights help address water
supply uncertainties that make our supplies more resilient and reliable for
existing customers.
Why are more North Poudre Irrigation Company (NPIC) shares needed at such a high
cost?
o In addition to the enlargement of Halligan Reservoir that will meet most of the
projected water demand increases, the information provided in the HWSP
permitting process assumed acquiring about 173 additional NPIC shares by 2065
from what is currently owned. These shares provide additional firm yield as they
include ownership in the Colorado-Big Thompson Project that includes storage
(e.g., Horsetooth Reservoir) and would be needed to meet all the projected future
demands. The acquisition and cost of these NPIC shares are included in the
calculation of the Utilities’ Water Supply Requirement fee which was most
recently updated and adopted by City Council at its October 15 and November 4,
2025 meetings.
CC: Jill Oropeza, Senior Director of Water Planning & Sciences
Jen Dial, Water Resources Manager
Kerri Ishmael, Senior Financial Analyst
Joe Wimmer, Director of Utilities Finance
Docusign Envelope ID: A862B04C-1B2D-456F-BD67-C9DDEBA0C3B6