Dam Expansion Wrongly Allowed Without Considering Climate Change

The US Army Corps of Engineers failed to conduct an adequate environmental study of a dam expansion project upstream of Boulder, Colo., a federal judge ruled.

The Corps erroneously interpreted the Environmental Protection Agency’s review guidelines when approving the Gross Dam expansion, the US District Court for the District of Colorado held.

The Corps also didn’t prove that the project was the “least environmentally damaging practicable alternative” as required under federal environmental law, the court said.

Stakeholders in the Colorado River and Front Range’s water sources are “rightfully” concerned about the proposal tampering with an “already precarious water management system ...