Source Water Assessment
for the Cache la Poudre River

Step 1: Delineation

The first phase source water assessment area (SWAA) is the entire area contributing water to the Fort Collins Utilities water intake on the mainstem Cache la Poudre River.

The SWAA includes the entire natural watershed above the intake and areas on the west side of the continental divide contributing water by way of constructed transbasin diversions.

The maps delineate the entire upper Cache la Poudre watershed above the City of Greeley Water and Sewer Department intake, and associated transbasin diversions, as the eventual SWAA. This wider delineation is in anticipation that a second phase of this project will assess the remaining area, and in the hope that stakeholders will work in partnership to protect source water quality on a watershed basis. Some of the stakeholders include the communities and counties, and land owners and managers located within the SWAA. A separate, but related, project is addressing stakeholders and the potential for them to work together to protect the Cache la Poudre drinking water source.

Please note in particular the inclusion of the area contributing to the Hansen Canal. The Hansen Canal transports water from Horsetooth Reservoir. The Colorado Big Thompson Project (CBT), in turn, contributes water to Horsetooth Reservoir. The source of CBT water is the Big Thompson watershed, adjacent to and south of the Cache la Poudre, and an extensive area west of the continental divide. The project reported on this website is not assessing CBT source water.

Finally, please note the arc distinguishing the area within 15 miles of the intake (i.e., 'near') from that more than 15 miles from the intake (i.e., 'far'). The distinction is made because the Colorado Source Water Assessment and Protection Program susceptibility assessment method deals with areas within the 'near' zone differently than those within the 'far' zone.

Proceed to Step 2: Contaminant Source Inventory