Greeley moves one step closer to closing on Terry Ranch Project with Water & Sewer Board vote

By Kelly Ragan

Greeley is one step closer to closing on the Terry Ranch Project.

On Wednesday, the Water & Sewer Board unanimously voted to approve the master purchase and sale agreement. Next stop: city council.  

On March 2, city council will vote to consider closing on the agreement, said Mayor John Gates at a city council meeting Tuesday.

“Our charter and ordinances don’t require council to approve on closing on the agreement, but early on it was our intention to ensure this as an additional measure of transparency,” Gates said.

Gates also said that though no public hearing was required for the move, the city opted to hold one anyway to allow the public to share their thoughts.

What is the Terry Ranch Project?

Map of Terry Ranch Project. Photo courtesy of the City of Greeley.

Since the early 2000s, Greeley planned to increase its ability to store water by enlarging the Milton Seaman Reservoir. 

But during the long, arduous federal permitting process for an expansion project of that nature, the Milton Seaman Reservoir enlargement ran into some major snags. 

Adam Jokerst, deputy director of Water and Sewer, said at a previous city council meeting that’s highlighted by the fact the city has spent $19 million since 2006 trying to get the necessary permits. Fifteen years later, the city still doesn’t have the permits.  

Much of that comes down to the potential environmental impact the project would have. 

“It’d inundate wetlands and stream a channel of the north fork, including an area heavily used by the public,” Jokerst said. “It would inundate critical habitats to endangered species, and it would inundate lands we don’t own nor can we condemn, such as the U.S. Forest Service, State of Colorado, Larimer County and the city of Fort Collins.” 

During the Milton Seaman enlargement due diligence process, the city had to scope out alternatives. When it did, it found Terry Ranch. 

Terry Ranch could change the way Greeley deals with water forever.

Terry Ranch is an underground, non-tributary aquifer – which means it’s not connected to a surface reservoir or stream – out north near the Wyoming border. 

Because it’s underground, it’s not subject to the dangers of evaporation or devastating wildfires, like many of Greeley’s other major sources of water. 

In 2020, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires caused “unprecedented, never-before-seen damage to City of Greeley watersheds,” said Sean Chambers, Water and Sewer director, at a previous council meeting. 

The city could use the space to inject and store water into the underground aquifer to use later as well as use what’s there now. 

The project would develop about 1.2 million acre-feet of groundwater. As it stands, the city uses about 25,000 acre-feet of water per year. 

The construction cost for the Terry Ranch Project is estimated to be about $250 million. 

Though the seller, Wingfoot Water Resources, would help finance the project (thus sharing the financial risks), the city would control and operate the project.

The city plans to issue Wingfoot raw water credits to use to sell to developers to pay off the project – once those are all issued, or after 10 years (whichever comes first) the city will own the project in its entirety.

Community concerns 

During the city’s water quality investigation of Terry Ranch, it found naturally occurring uranium, which is common in many groundwater sources. 

“Uranium 238 is very different than what’s found in nuclear power plants,” Jokerst said. “It’s naturally occurring and can be removed. We will remove it.” 

The city already treats the water it gets from the Poudre River and the Colorado Big Thompson for uranium, Jokerst said, and has been doing so for 100 years. 

The city also performed a 30-day pilot test to ensure it could successfully remove the uranium – and it passed. 

Greeley residents, Jokerst said again for emphasis, will not receive water with measurable amounts of uranium.  

Despite the city’s certainty, uranium remains a concern for some critics. 

John Gauthiere, a vocal opponent of the project, has written several blog posts that appear on his website, Save Greeley’s Water. 

In one recent post he wrote, “The Terry Ranch aquifer is already contaminated with uranium exceeding the Safe Drinking Water Act limits and is subject to considerable risk of additional contamination from oil and mineral exploration and extraction.”

The city is adamant uranium is not an issue. 

Next steps

City council will vote to finalize the purchase of the Terry Ranch water rights and storage March 2.

For more information on how to participate in public comment, go to https://greeleygov.com/government/council.