BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — There's a legal battle underway between Denver Water and environmental groups over the Gross Reservoir Dam expansion project.
On April 3, U.S. District Court Judge Christine Arguello issued an order blocking Denver Water from enlarging the Gross Reservoir east of Nederland until major federal environmental permitting processes are redone.
The judge found that allowing the reservoir expansion to continue without redoing the permits would cause irreparable environmental damage that cannot be compensated for by monetary payments. That harm would outweigh any financial costs Denver Water would incur from halting construction, she wrote.
“Environmental injury is often the very definition of irreparable harm — often permanent or at least of long duration,” Arguello wrote. “All parties agree that there will be environmental harm resulting from completion of the Moffat Collection System Project, including the destruction of 500,000 trees, water diversion from several creeks, and impacts to wildlife by the sudden loss of land.”
A few days later, a federal judge gave Denver Water two weeks to complete any necessary work on its $531 million dam expansion project before the court-ordered construction halt takes effect.
Denver7 took a guided tour of the project site on Wednesday. Jeff Martin, project manager with Denver Water, said it's taken a lot of work to get to where crews are today.
"We spent the whole 2024 season raising the dam, where you see all the stepped concrete behind me, that is what we have accomplished in 2024 about 270 vertical feet of dam construction," Martin said.
- See the project site in the video player below
Since construction began in 2022, 350 people have been working to raise the dam to its new height of 471 feet. Martin said the goal is to bring a reliable water supply to 1.5 million customers, avoiding an event like 2002 when Denver Water customers just about ran dry.
"We want to be able to solve the issue and weather a drought. We want to weather the next catastrophic event, the next climate uncertainty. We want to make sure we have water for a growing Denver area," he said.
Arguello ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated federal environmental law and must reconsider two key documents and a project permit after making what she called several “serious” mistakes when approving the expansion. That ruling sided with environmentalists like Gary Wockner of Save The Colorado, who have fought the project since the beginning.
"This project will further drain the Colorado River, period. The idea of building more straws out of a river that’s already on life support just doesn’t make any sense," Wockner said.
Wockner said instead of a higher dam, Denver Water could have chosen a route that wouldn't result in the drying up of the Colorado River and the chopping down of 400 acres of trees.
"Denver Water should focus on conservation and efficiency," he said.
According to Denver Water, careful analysis was done, and raising the dam was the recommended solution.
"We spent 15 years in a hardcore analysis with the Army Corps of Engineers. They are the experts to evaluate this," said Martin.
Both sides hope to find a solution to Denver's water woes.
"All we're asking is to fix the dam, for the dam to be safe. Do not raise it any higher than it was before," said Wockner.
"In the end, the safest way to move forward and the quickest way to move forward for us is to build the dam," said Martin.
Denver Water and the environmental groups will meet back in court on May 6.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.