Denver Water statement regarding the Oct. 18, 2024, court ruling on Gross Reservoir Expansion Project federal permitting:

While we are reviewing the judge’s ruling pertaining to the Record of Decision issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2017, Denver Water remains focused on maintaining the safety and forward progress of the project. It’s critical we continue with construction on schedule to ensure the integrity and safety of both the current project configuration and future dam and to meet the federally required completion deadline from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). 

What remains clear is the critical nature of the Gross Reservoir Expansion to the Denver region in an era of climate change. 

Denver has seen the impact of drought and catastrophic wildfire before. The starkest example came in 2002, when both conditions impacted the region in dramatic fashion. Denver Water came very close to losing the ability to provide our northern customers with safe, treated drinking water – an absolute human health and safety priority, and the responsibility of this utility, as the region’s water provider.

The expansion of Gross Reservoir is intended to prevent such a dire threat from presenting itself again. Gross Reservoir expansion reduces the significant pressure on our southern system, which delivers 80% of our water supply, depends heavily on the South Platte River and has seen a series of wildfires that threaten water delivery, water quality and water treatment. In both 1996 and 2002, sediment loads from deluges following the Buffalo Creek and Hayman fires created impacts to our southern system that challenged our ability to ensure water supply to our customers; we are still addressing these impacts to this very day.

Denver Water is responsible for providing a safe and secure water supply for 1.5 million people in Denver and portions of the surrounding metro area and has understood the urgency of the Gross expansion since the 1990s, when the environmental community recommended expansion of the reservoir as part of a plan to address future supply and water security.

The utility began working on permitting for the project in 2002, more than 20 years ago. The project has been analyzed and permitted in various forms by no fewer than seven state and federal environmental agencies, and Denver Water has consulted extensively with environmental organizations, nonprofits, the public, and other stakeholders to identify efforts to enhance and reasonably restore resources on both the West Slope and Front Range. Denver Water is also operating under a legally mandated deadline for project completion in 2027 from FERC.

Throughout the permitting process, Denver Water has been driven by a singular value: the need to do this expansion the right way, by involving the community; upholding the highest environmental standards; providing a sustainable, high-quality water supply to our customers; and protecting and managing the water and landscapes that define Colorado.

Denver Water looks forward to working through the legal process to address any potential remedies and move this critical project toward completion.