Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District

Northern Water is a public agency created in 1937 to contract with the federal government to build the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. The C-BT Project collects water west of the Continental Divide and delivers it to Northeastern Colorado for agricultural, municipal, domestic and industrial uses. Northern Water and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation jointly operate and maintain the C-BT Project. About 925,000 people live within Northern Water boundaries, which encompass 1.6 million acres in portions of eight counties: Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Sedgwick, Washington and Weld. Northern Water provides supplemental water supplies to more than 120 ditch, reservoir and irrigation companies serving thousands of farms and more than 640,000 acres of irrigated farmland, making it the second largest of all federal water projects in the American West. Northern Water’s Municipal Subdistrict is a separate and independent conservancy district formed by six municipalities in 1970 to build and operate the Windy Gap Project. The Municipal Subdistrict Board elects its own officers, but its directors are the same as the Northern Water Board. The Windy Gap Project consists of a diversion dam and pump plant on the Colorado River, and a six-mile pipeline to Lake Granby. From there the Windy Gap Project utilizes the existing C-BT Project facilities to deliver Windy Gap Project water to cities and towns along the northern Front Range. Northern Water and the Municipal Subdistrict both have Enterprises formed under state law which develop and manage several special projects including the Windy Gap Firming Project and the Northern Integrated Supply Project known as NISP. Mission To provide water resources management, project operations, and conservation services for project beneficiaries. Northern Water’s Values and Principles • Collaborative, proactive, and progressive leadership • Water resources conservation • Environmental stewardship • Personal and corporate ethical integrity and professionalism • Solution-oriented service • Regional cooperation