Greeley needs more water to keep up with future growth. So why is the city considering backing out of the Milton Seaman Reservior expansion project? It might have a better idea.

By Kelly Ragan

Since the early 2000s, Greeley has planned to increase storage by enlarging the Milton Seaman Reservoir. 

But that kind of project takes a lot of time and cash, and the city’s Water & Sewer Department thinks it has a better solution. 

If it goes for it, the city would pull out of the Milton Seaman Reservoir expansion project, though it would still make use of it and the other reservoirs it owns. 

The possible new endeavor is called the Terry Ranch Project.  

The Terry Ranch Project  would be underground, officially known as a non-tributary aquifer – which means it’s not connected to a surface reservoir or stream – out north near the Wyoming border.

At a city council meeting Tuesday, Adam Jokerst, Greeley’s deputy director of Water Resources, said the Milton Seaman Reservoir enlargement is a good project, but the permitting process was long and complicated. 

“We’ve spent 15 years in the federal permitting process,” Jokerst said. 

Even though talks of an expansion started in 2003, and the city began the permitting process in 2006, Greeley still doesn’t have any permits – and it’s no sure bet that it will ever get them. Beyond that uncertainty, construction costs have risen sharply in recent years, according to the city. 

The original estimate in 2003 put the cost at about $100 million, according to the city. 

But that’s now estimated to cost between $500 million and $1 billion. 

The Milton Seaman Reservoir enlargement project isn’t the only one to see increasing costs, Jokerst said. 

“(The Northern Integrated Supply Project, or NISP) has seen a growing price tag too,” Jokerst said. “That would dramatically increase our water rates.” 

It’s worth noting that Greeley is not part of NISP, though surrounding communities such as Eaton, Evans and Windsor are. NISP, much like the Milton Seaman Reservoir expansion, hasn’t been able to move forward. 

Greeley is growing. If that wasn’t obvious from the rush hour traffic or new housing developments, projections show Greeley is expected to grow to more than 260,000 people in the next 50 years. 

The big appeal is that 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 non-tributary groundwater. As it stands, the city uses about 25,000 acre-feet of water  per year. 

“Instead of building a dam on a mountain stream with associated environmental issues, water can be stored underground and pumped to the surface when needed; there’s no evaporation loss, no inundation of streams or wetlands, and no environmental remediation,” Vice Chairman of the Greeley Water and Sewer Board Mick Todd wrote in a column published in The Greeley Tribune. 

Jokerst said the city would pump the water from wells. The water would flow by gravity, connected to an existing pipeline near Windsor. 

“It has the potential to generate hydropower,” he said.

If the city were to inject water for storage, Jokerst said the city would first treat the water, then it would flow by gravity to then be pumped north to the ranch through the same pipeline, injected and stored for later use. 

Jokerst said early testing showed excellent water quality that would require minimal treatment. 

The city did detect uranium, Jokerst said at the meeting – but it’s a common occurrence in groundwater and isn’t a contaminant from an outside source, he said.

“The Terry Ranch water is well within EPA guidelines for safety, and it is proposed that a treatment plant be constructed on-site to remove uranium,” Todd said in the column. 

The construction cost for the Terry Ranch Project is estimated to be about $250 million, with the seller, Wingfoot Water Resources, financing half the project. 

Though Wingfoot would finance the project (thus sharing the financial risks), Jokerst said the city would control and operate the project.

Greeley would own the project after issuing all credits or after 10 years, whichever comes first.  

Jokerst said the project, if the city proceeds with it, would not abandon any water rights. Rather, it would transfer them. 

In a column published in the Tribune, John Gauthiere, of Gauthiere Engineering Inc., criticized the project. 

“The alternative the city is looking at is a major departure in Greeley’s historic and successful surface water acquisition program,” Gauthiere wrote. 

Why change? 

The NoCo Optimist spoke with Michael Welsh, a University of Northern Colorado history professor and co-author of “Confluence: The Story of Greeley Water,” to gain a historical perspective.

Greeley has a long history of being at the forefront of water issues, he said.  

“You might say it’s something in the water,” Welsh joked. “…but that’s how Terry Ranch fits in. That future thinking is a hallmark of Greeley water planning.” 

Terry Ranch is path breaking, Welsh said, in much the same way the Colorado Big Thompson Project was when it was first implemented. 

Work on the Colorado Big Thompson Project began in 1938. Now, the Colorado Big Thompson project has 12 reservoirs and delivers water to more than one million people and 615,000 acres of irrigated farmland, according to Northern Water’s website. 

Without it, we wouldn’t have Horsetooth Reservoir. 

Back then, Welsh said, Big Thompson was groundbreaking, but now Colorado needs new solutions.

“Terry Ranch is a problem-solving project,” Welsh said.  

Fires are burning around several of Greeley’s reservoirs, Welsh said, which has happened in the past but not on the same scale. 

Beyond that, it’s expensive to expand existing dams, such as the Milton Seaman Reservoir. It’s difficult, he said, and there are significant environmental impacts. 

Projects such as the Milton Seaman Reservoir expansion and even NISP are stuck. 

“NISP has been sitting out there in the sun baking, you just can’t move it,” Welsh said. “Terry Ranch is an attempt to move Greeley forward.”

Welsh said the Terry Ranch Project makes room for collaboration with other communities. Nearby communities could lease space and store water there in the future, Welsh said, which could turn out to be cost-effective for them. 

Beyond the expense, times have changed, Welsh said. The regulatory climate is different. 

“NISP may be the last of the old generation of above ground storage facilities,” Welsh said.  

Next steps

The city will host virtual open houses and reach out to folks via social media to engage the public. In the coming months, city council will vote on whether to close on the project. 

To learn more, go to https://greeleygov.com/services/ws/terry-ranch-project.