Richard Hackett, Boulder County. On September 21, 2020, Denver Water submitted an Areas and Activities of State Interest (1041) review application to the Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting Dept. for the proposed expansion of Gross Dam and Reservoir. The application is currently under review.

The review includes analysis and comment by relevant agencies and the public. The public may submit written comments to grossreservoir@bouldercounty.org. As the application proceeds through the review process there will be additional opportunities for public comment at public hearings before the Boulder County Planning Commission and the County Commissioners.

The application materials are available on the Docket SI-20-0003: Gross Reservoir & Dam Expansion webpage.

No public meetings or hearings are currently scheduled, but notices of future meetings or hearings will be sent to the Gross Reservoir Expansion Project news list (sign-up for email or text notices, https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/COBOULDER/subscriber/new?topic_id=COBOULDER_31) and published as legal notices.

Questions on the proposal may be emailed to grossreservoir@bouldercounty.org.

The Board of Water Commissioners for the City and County of Denver, aka “Denver Water,” is in the process of applying for a planned expansion of the Gross Reservoir Dam in southwest Boulder County. The reservoir resides entirely in unincorporated Boulder County, where the Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting Dept. has land use planning jurisdiction.

For several years, Boulder County has informed Denver Water that it must go through the county’s Areas and Activities of State Interest (or “1041”) land use review process and receive an approval before proceeding with the project. A Boulder District Court determined that Denver Water must apply to the county for a 1041 permit.

On July 16, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave its approval for the project allowing Denver Water to proceed with design and construction. The 1041 review allows the Planning Commission and the County Commissioners to conduct public hearings and review the application according to the criteria in the Land Use Code.

More information can be viewed on the county’s Gross Reservoir Dam Expansion Proposal information webpage. https://www.bouldercounty.org/property-and-land/land-use/planning/denver-water-gross-reservoir/

To receive notices about the Gross Reservoir project from Denver Water, look for the “Sign Up for Email Updates” option at the bottom of the page on the Gross Reservoir project website. All notices of meetings, minutes, and updates on the proposed project (also known as the “Moffat Collection System Project”) can be found on Denver Water’s website at https://grossreservoir.org/.

(Originally published in the October 8, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)