HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-105-12/02/2025-REGARDING THE NORTHERN COLORADO WATER ALLIANCERESOLUTION 2025-1 05
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
REGARDING THE NORTHERN COLORADO WATER ALLIANCE
A.The Northern Colorado Water Alliance (“Alliance”)is a collaborative forum
for representatives of water providers and other interested organizations in the northern
Colorado Front Range Region (also,“Region”).The Alliance is not a separate legal entity
or decision-making body.
B.The City of Fort Collins (“City”)is a home rule municipality,owns a portfolio
of water rights and water contracts,and owns and operates a water utility that provides
treated water service.
C.Current members of the Alliance are:the City,Town of Berthoud,Town of
Eaton,City of Evans,City of Greeley,Town of Johnstown,City of Loveland,Town of
Milliken,Town of Severance,Town of Timnath,Town of Wellington,Town of Windsor,
North Weld County Water District,Little Thompson Water District,Platte River Power
Authority,Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District,and Larimer County.
D.Water providers in the Region face various risks and challenges that
prompted the formation of the Alliance,including the following:
•Communication-focused risks and challenges,including siloed water
knowledge,complex regional systems,and governance challenges,such as
tensions between different types of water users;
•Risks and challenges beyond members’direct control,including hydrological
conditions,users’increasing demand for water,and economic conditions
increasing the cost of infrastructure projects;
•Rising water costs’impacts on the cost of development,which may impede the
housing affordability goals of municipalities;
•Different types of water providers having varying levels of involvement in local
land use planning and land control;and
•Recent purchases of water rights by entities outside of the Region,including
entities within the Denver metropolitan area.
E.Members use the Alliance to discuss,learn about and collaborate on water-
related issues,issues affecting the Region’s communities,and each organization’s
approach to addressing challenges.Because the Alliance itself is not a decision-making
body,takeaways from discussions are intended to inspire members to adopt new
approaches and techniques to mitigate the water-related risks and challenges affecting
the Region as a whole or individual communities within it.
F.There are mutual interests across water providers in the Region,and a
collaborative approach is needed to achieve the goal of successfully protecting the
Region’s water.
G.Members of the Alliance have articulated the following mission for the
Alliance:collaborating and educating for the protection of water resources and systems
to ensure a resilient future for the northern Colorado Front Range.
H.Members of the Alliance desire to collaborate specifically to support efforts:
to retain water for local beneficial use by discouraging the further transfer of water to
entities outside of the Region;and to seek appropriate mitigation to offset impacts to
affected communities in circumstances where water must be transferred outside of the
Region.
In support of the foregoing,members of the Alliance have articulated the
following principles,which are not intended to bind any member to specific actions:
•Members of the Alliance represent a variety of special districts,municipal and
county governments,and utilities facing different jurisdictional opportunities
and challenges regarding the protection of water;
•The citizens,civic leaders,water providers,and other water users of Northern
Colorado have gone to extraordinary lengths since the 1860s to responsibly
plan for,develop,and operate complex water systems that are essential to the
Region’s economy and quality of life;
•The citizens,civic leaders,water providers,and other water users of Northern
Colorado are currently making significant investments in additional projects to
increase water system resiliency,meet future demands,and provide a greater
level of water security in the Region;
•Northern Colorado’s high quality of life is tied to the health and well-being of
communities and depends directly on the availability of water resources;
•Nothing in these principles is intended to cause harm to Northern Colorado
communities or infringe on the ability of members to fulfill their organizational
missions;
•Water is a building block of the regional economy and is critical to the further
economic development of the region;
•Collaboration and partnerships among water providers and other entities in
Northern Colorado enable agreements to develop,maintain,and improve water
storage,delivery,and treatment infrastructure that benefit water users in the
region;
•Each water provider has the right to acquire sufficient water resources to meet
its water users’current and future demand;
•Each individual water right owner has the right to sell and/or transfer their water
rights;
•It is the intent of the Alliance to be transparent with water right owners and
mutual ditch companies that manage water rights and not to diminish the value
of those rights or alter the water market;
•The Alliance respects Colorado’s current system of water rights that is based
on the doctrine of prior appropriation and other federal,state,and local laws
and regulations that honor rights and obligations under existing permits,
approvals,and agreements;
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•Availability of waterfor agricultural,environmental,and recreational uses is tied
to the economic and cultural value and character of the region;and
•The members of the Alliance will,in their discretion and in good faith,interpret
and implement the stated goals.
In light of the foregoing recitals,which the Council hereby makes and adopts as
determinations and findings,BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1.The City Manager is hereby authorized to continue to participate in
the Northern Colorado Water Alliance to further the policy and related goals of the City.
Section 2.City Council expresses support for the Alliance’s mission stated in
Recital G and for the principles set forth in Recital I above,which are not intended to bind
the City to any specific position(s)or action(s).
Section 3.City Council expresses support of the desire to collaborate with other
members of the Northern Colorado Water Alliance to support efforts:to retain water for
local beneficial use by discouraging the further transfer of water to entities within the
Denver metropolitan area;and to seek appropriate mitigation to offset impacts to affected
communities in circumstances where water must be transferred outside of the Region.
Passed and adopted on December 2,2025.
a or
ATTEST:
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CtyCIe/
Effective Date:December 2,2025
Approving Attorney:Eric Potyondy
Exhibit:None