Hello TEG Friends and Supporters!
We had a great turnout at the TEG meeting at the CCCIA Hall on March 5th, 2017. Gary Wockner from Save the Colorado and Mike Chiropolos, our attorney, gave a brief overview of the history of the Gross Reservoir Expansion Project and then talked about current status, future plans for action and what we can each do NOW to help prevent this destructive project. Here are some highlights from the presentation:
Denver Water must get four permits before the project can proceed
- State of Colorado “401 Water Quality Permit”. This permit has been approved although there were numerous qualifications put on the permit.
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) “Hydropower Relicensing Amendment”. The application has been submitted and FERC is currently taking public comments. TEG is currently working on a document to submit but PLEASE CONSIDER SUBMITTING YOUR COMMENTS. More info on how to do that can be found later in this newsletter. FERC could stop this project.
- Army Corps of Engineers “404 Clean Water Act Permit”. The application from Denver Water has been submitted, the draft EIS and final EIS were released and we are awaiting a decision. TEG, along with MANY OF YOU, submitted extensive comments on both EIS documents during the public comment periods. We expect that this permit will be approved at any time. If it is approved, Save The Colorado and TEG, in a coalition with other environmental groups, will sue to stop the project.
- Boulder County 1041 Regulation. This comes from Colorado House Bill 1041 which was enacted in 1974 to allow local government to regulate development activities. This has not yet been invoked. If the first three permits are ever all approved, we will lobby hard with the Boulder County Commissioners to use 1041 to stop this project.
At this point in time, TEG’s primary focus is on getting comments to FERC for their review. Comments are due by April 7th. Here are links to sites where you can get information and submit comments:
- The Denver Water Board announcement about the FERC Public Comment Period can be found here. Comments are due by the April 7th.
- The Federal Registerprovides the links to actually submit your comments. Note that because this is a hydroelectric licensing application, commentators can submit brief comments up to 6,000 characters without prior registration by using the eComment system at https://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/how-to/ecomment.aspYou must include your name and contact information at the end of your comments. Don’t be intimidated by the government website – just follow the instructions!
- Please also send a copy of any comments you make to the Boulder County Commissioners. It is always good to keep them informed of any actions county constituents take.
The Moffat Collection System Project (Gross Dam Expansion) is the largest construction project ever proposed in Boulder County. It would result in the highest dam in Colorado being constructed in our backyards. This project is NOT NEEDED and Denver Water’s entire case for justifying construction of the dam is flawed. You can get further information by referring to:
- Check out the Save the Colorado website for details of the project and why it is a bad idea.<
- The original comments submitted for the EIS from TEG are very comprehensive with much detail on all aspects of how this construction will negatively impact our neighborhoods, our county, our state and our nation. The document can be found on theTEG website. Look under the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) section to view related documents, includingTEG’s FEIS comment letter. This will provide you with all the details about what we objected to during the EIS comment period and will give you ideas of what to write.
You can also make a tax deductible contribution to help us in the fight for our neighborhoods and against a wasteful water project…
Please click here to donate now!
Or you can make out a check out to BCRLDF
and send it to:
TEG-BCRLDF, PO Box 7014, Golden, CO, 80403