HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 1/24/2017 - Memorandum From Adam Jokerst Re: Halligan Water Supply Project Status Update, Fourth Quarter 2016Utilities
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Fort Collins, CO 80522
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utilities@fcgov.com
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M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: January 17, 2017
TO: Mayor Troxell and Councilmembers
FROM: Adam Jokerst, Water Resources Engineer
THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Kevin R. Gertig, Utilities Executive Director
RE: Halligan Water Supply Project Status Update, Fourth Quarter 2016
Bottom Line
The purpose of this Fourth Quarter 2016 Status Update is to inform City Council on progress
related to the Halligan Water Supply Project (“Halligan Project”) and to provide an update on
project schedule and costs. Significant progress continues to be made on the project’s draft
environmental impact statement (“EIS”). Public release of the draft EIS is scheduled for the
fourth quarter of 2017, and will be a significant milestone in the completion of the Halligan
Project. Staff has begun planning outreach efforts in advance of the release. No changes to the
project schedule have occurred since the last update to Council. The overall project budget has
increased slightly primarily due to an increase in estimated construction costs.
Background
The Halligan Project proposes to enlarge Halligan Reservoir from its existing capacity of
approximately 6,400 acre-feet to an
enlarged capacity of approximately 14,500
acre-feet, providing Utilities with about
8,100 acre-feet of additional storage
capacity. The purposes of the Halligan
Projects are to:
Meet future water demands of the Fort
Collins Utilities service area;
Provide a storage reserve for
emergency water supply disruptions;
Increase drought security; and
Improve water system reliability and
flexibility.
Halligan Reservoir
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In order to enlarge Halligan Reservoir, the City requires permits from the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (“Corps”) and other federal and state agencies. Before issuing permits, the Corps will
produce both a draft and final EIS, which will be published for public review and comment. The
EIS provides detailed analyses of the environmental impacts of the project, along with impacts of
other alternatives to enlarging Halligan.
Progress Update
City Staff, the Corps and its third-party consultants continued to make good progress during the
fourth quarter of 2016. Achievements include:
Finalized three additional draft technical reports, for a total of 20 completed draft
reports of the approximately 261 technical reports that form the basis of the draft EIS. The
Corps expects to complete all other technical reports by the second quarter of 2017.
Continued writing the main body of the draft EIS, a significant milestone in the
permitting process.
Progressed development of
water quality and water
temperature models.
Water temperature
modeling is underway for
the Halligan Project, using
models developed for
NISP pursuant to an
intergovernmental
agreement approved by
City Council in August
2016.
Acquired title to a mining
claim on federally owned
land lying under and
adjacent to the existing Halligan Reservoir, and submitted an application for a right-of-
way on the land to facilitate enlarging the reservoir.
Prepared a recreational lease for the City’s property at Halligan Reservoir to the
Landowners Association for Phantom Canyon Ranches. An ordinance concerning this lease
agreement will be presented for City Council’s consideration in February 2017.
Provided project outreach to the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce and to Northern
Water’s Fall Water Users Meeting.
Updated the Halligan Project’s website. The launch of the new website is expected during
the first quarter of 2017.
1 Previous reports to City Council indicated the total number of technical reports is 27. Recently, two reports have
been combined, reducing the total number of reports to 26.
Impact Mapping
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Prepared an outreach action plan for 2017. As part of the outreach plan, all future
quarterly status updates will be reformatted to appeal to a wider audience, including
members of the public.
Permitting Schedule
As reported in the last update to City Council, the draft EIS is scheduled to be released in late
2017, which represents a delay to past project schedules. The delay is a result of water quality
studies requested by federal and state agencies. However, in the past quarter, the Corps’ third-
party consultants made notable progress towards completing the water quality studies. All other
studies are currently on schedule.
Major project milestones are shown in the chart below. Federal and state agencies ultimately set
the permitting schedule, and thus, other delays beyond the City’s control could arise in the
future. Staff will continue to monitor and encourage timely execution of the permitting process
to the extent allowable, and will keep City Council apprised of any future shifts in timeline.
Project Budget
As previously reported to City Council, the Corps’ third-party contractors requested an
additional approximate $1.1 million to finalize the Halligan Project’s draft EIS. The City
finalized a new work order to the third-party contractors in the fourth quarter of 2016.
A summary of Halligan Project expenses is provided in the table below. Over the past quarter,
the total project cost has increased approximately $300,000, primarily as a result of increases to
construction cost indices. Reimbursements of approximately $70,000 were collected in 2016,
raised from cost sharing of work products with the City of Greeley and from fees collected
pursuant to a license for the recreational use of Halligan Reservoir.
The table indicates the need for an additional $9.1 million in new appropriations for the Halligan
Project, which represents an increase of $300,000 from previous Council updates. This increase
is equal to the total project budget described above. Reimbursements for project expenses
require Council action to be re-appropriated to the project budget.
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Federal Permitting ‐ Draft EIS
Federal Permitting ‐ Final EIS
Federal Permitting ‐ Permit Decision
Preliminary and Final Design
Construction
Enlarged Halligan Operations
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Expenses ($M)
To Date1 Future Total
Acquisition $3.3 $0.5 $3.8
Permitting & Mitigation $10.8 $6.5 $17.3
Construction - $23.5 $23.5
Debt Service2 $1.9 - $1.9
Total $16.0 $30.5 $46.5
Estimated Final Utility Cost ($M)
To Date Future Total
Project Costs $16.0 $30.5 $46.5
Less Reimbursements3 ($4.6) ($0.1) ($4.7)
Total4 $11.4 $30.4 $41.8
Appropriations ($M)
To Date Future Total
Past Appropriations $37.4 - $37.4
Required Future Appropriation - $9.1 $9.1
Total $37.4 $9.1 $46.5
1) Costs through December 2016.
2) Debt service payments from 2004 to 2014 were allocated as Halligan project expenses. All future debt
service payments will not be accounted as a project cost.
3) Reimbursements were received from former project partners (NPIC and the Tri-Districts) between 2005
and 2014; miscellaneous reimbursements have been and will be collected from the City of Greeley and
from rents in the future.
4) Total Utility cost includes debt service and deducts reimbursements.
Future appropriations for the Halligan Project, if approved, will be sourced from Water
Enterprise Fund reserves. Revenue for the Water Enterprise Fund is sourced from water rates
and development fees. In particular, revenue collected from cash-in-lieu payments for raw water
requirements and commercial water surcharges are accrued to the Water Rights Reserve Fund.
The Water Rights Reserve Fund is a component of the Water Enterprise Fund, and funds water
supply development projects such as the Halligan Project. Staff is presently investigating
updates to raw water requirements, and intends to present proposed changes to Council Finance
Committee on January 23, 2017 and at a City Council Work Session on February 14, 2017. Staff
does not anticipate increasing rates or fees specifically for the Halligan Project.
CC: Water Board
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