Planning commission unanimously recommends approval of Halligan Reservoir expansion 10‑41 permit

The Larimer County Planning Commission voted Feb. 19 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve a 10‑41 permit for the City of Fort Collins’ Halligan Reservoir expansion, a municipal water‑supply project that would replace the existing dam and enlarge storage on the North Fork of the Cache la Poudre River.

The recommendation passed on a roll call vote; all commissioners present voted yes. The commission recommended approval subject to the 53 conditions of approval recommended by county staff and an update to a time‑limit condition to align with language in the county land use code. The Board of County Commissioners will hold the final land‑use hearing on the project on March 24.

County planning manager Jenny Axmaker said staff found the application met the Larimer County Land Use Code criteria for a 10‑41 permit, subject to conditions. “Staff reviewed the submitted documentation, we reviewed the land use code criteria and found that the proposed Halligan Water Supply Project 10‑41 permit application satisfies all the applicable criteria … subject to the implementation of the conditions as approved and recommended by staff,” Axmaker said.

Why it matters: Fort Collins says the project will add storage capacity that the utility needs for municipal reliability and to reduce the frequency of drought restrictions for customers. The proposal also includes multiple mitigation measures the city and federal agencies identified during the project's long NEPA review, including fish passages, wetland mitigation credits, wildlife monitoring and an oxygenation system for the enlarged reservoir.

Project scope and timeline The City of Fort Collins, acting through Fort Collins Utilities, is the applicant and owner. The project would enlarge the existing Halligan Reservoir’s surface area from about 253 acres to about 391 acres and add roughly 8,200 acre‑feet of municipal storage on top of an existing 6,400 acre‑foot historical pool used by the Northern Poudre Irrigation Company (NPIC). Project plans call for construction of a new roller‑compacted concrete dam approximately 200 feet downstream of the existing structure, partial demolition of the old dam, reconstruction of the NPIC diversion (the North Poudre Canal diversion), construction of up to two fish passages (including at the Gateway Park intake on the main stem), and supporting access and operations infrastructure.

Nicole Ponc…