Northern Colorado Water Alliance

NoCO Water Alliance Mission: Collaborating and education for the protection of water resources and
systems to ensure a resilient future for the Northern Colorado Front Range.

The Northern Colorado Water Alliance (NoCO WA) is paving the way for regional collaboration and conversation, helping to protect Northern Colorado’s water resources and future. Learn more about the group’s ongoing efforts, and share your perspective using the comment form below.

Purpose & History

The Alliance is a collaborative forum for representatives of water providers and local governments in the northern Colorado Front Range region. The forum is used to discuss, learn about, and take action on water-related challenges affecting the region’s communities—and to collaboratively develop solutions to address those challenges. Members recognize that there are mutual interests among water providers in the region, and that partnership is needed to achieve the group’s mission.

The Alliance was formed in late 2022 in response to ongoing risks and challenges in northern Colorado. Local leaders in the region felt that water issues should be a topic of focus for regional discussions and, through the Regional Leaders Initiative (RLI) group, encouraged the creation of a water-specific group. These issues include complex regional systems, concerning environmental changes, inconsistent watering restrictions, increasing costs of water rights and infrastructure costs, and regional population growth. Additionally, for some municipal members, the rising cost of water rights impacts the cost of real estate development and therefore threatens housing affordability goals. Although each community or organization faces different challenges locally, Alliance members are able to help each other find new solutions through technology, policy, funding, and innovative partnerships.

Membership

Current membership represents communities across Northern Colorado and includes entities with varying population sizes, available resources, levels of involvement in local land use planning/control, and staff capacity.

Municipalities:

➔ Town of Berthoud
➔ Town of Eaton
➔ City of Evans
➔ City of Fort Collins
➔ City of Greeley
➔ Town of Johnstown
➔ City of Loveland
➔ Town of Milliken
➔ Town of Severance
➔ Town of Timnath
➔ Town of Wellington
➔ Town of Windsor

Water Districts: 

➔ East Larimer County WD
➔ Fort Collins-Loveland WD
➔ North Weld County WD
➔ Little Thompson WD

Other Special Districts:

➔ Platte River Power Authority
➔ Northern Water

Counties:

➔ Larimer County
➔ Weld County

Northern Colorado Water Principles

Alliance members are aligned behind a set of Northern Colorado Water Principles.

Large quantities of northern Colorado water continue to be purchased by entities outside of the local region for use in other counties. Alliance members identified this as a risk to protecting local water supplies and the agricultural, economic, cultural, and environmental systems that rely on such water.

This prompted the Alliance to develop a series of principles as a sign of shared regional awareness and commitment to this goal. Through a series of iterative discussions, revisions, and improvements, members crafted a final version of the principles, representing a wide spectrum of opinions and perspectives from water providers and local governments. Read the text of the principles here.

The principles underscore the importance of protecting water rights for local beneficial use in northern Colorado. Signatories seek to build awareness of this issue and develop a culture of “selling local.”

Councils, boards, and commissions from the following fourteen Alliance members have signaled their support as signatories adopting these principles:

➔ Berthoud Board of Trustees
➔ Eaton Town Board
➔ Fort Collins City Council
➔ Greeley Water & Sewer Board
➔ Johnstown Town Council
➔ Larimer County Board of County Commissioners
➔ Little Thompson Water District Board of Directors
➔ Loveland Utilities Commission
➔ Milliken Board of Trustees
➔ Northern Water Board of Directors
➔ Severance Town Council
➔ Timnath Town Council
➔ Wellington Board of Trustees
➔ Windsor Town Board

Frequesntly Asked Questions

The idea for a regional, water-focused forum came initially from participants of the Regional Leaders Initiative (RLI). RLI is a discussion group composed of Mayors, Mayors Pro Tem, and City Managers of Northern Colorado’s largest communities. The group is convened quarterly by the NoCo Foundation as an opportunity for collaborative discussion on shared challenges and opportunities. The NoCo Foundation serves as convener and host of the meetings, with facilitation support provided by CDR Associates.

The region roughly includes eastern Larimer County and western Weld County.

The Alliance typically convenes in person every other month at member-hosted meetings throughout Northern Colorado.

The group’s current focus is on ways to prevent Northern Colorado’s water from leaving the region—and on mitigating local impacts when water does leave. This topic, however, is not the only one of interest or discussion among members. In the future, members will likely begin to shift focus to topics like drought response, water quality planning, interjurisdictional partnerships, and infrastructure interconnections.

Membership in the Alliance is currently limited to interested water providers and local governments in the Northern Colorado region; however, the group is seeking to understand perspectives from additional organizations and welcomes guest speakers and presentations on water-related topics as time permits.

At this time, participation in Alliance meetings is determined by group consensus and through invitation only. Requests to participate may be considered collectively by Alliance members.

No, the Alliance is not an official organization or decision-making body. Takeaways from discussions are intended to inspire member entities on their own to adopt new approaches and techniques that mitigate water-related risks and challenges.

Get in Touch

If you want to get in touch with press inquiry, membership interest, or general comments, please fill out the form below.