Atlas Copco Pumps Provide Bypass Pumping Support Windy Gap Project in Colorado

During the late 1960’s, communities in the Front Range, Colorado, formed the Northern Water Municipal Subdistrict to plan, build and operate the Windy Gap Project—delivering water to municipal subdistricts in Boulder, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont, and Loveland.

The Windy Gap Project is built with a diversion dam on the Colorado River, a 445-acre-foot reservoir, a pump plant, and a six-mile pipeline to Lake Granby. The water from the Windy Gap is pumped and stored in Lake Granby, before being delivered to water users via the Colorado-Big Thompson Project.

The project completed in 1985, but the project still carries out major upgrades to increase capacity. The first, is to make the reservoir deeper to help keep temperatures down. The second, is to install a river bypass that will allow trout to swim further up the Colorado River. The bypass will allow the trout to swim past the reservoir. Currently the trout cannot swim upstream. The bypass company looked to Atlas Copco pumps to assist with the dewatering for the project.

The reservoir overfow was used to lower the water levels as far as possible, then the Atlas Copco PAC F1212 units were installed to remove the remaining water level and handle any groundwater. Thanks to the closed impeller, the PAC F1212 is suitable for pumping liquids with solids in suspension with the best possible effciency.

During the winter, the reservoir will be filled back up and deliver regular operations, before being dewatered for additional work in spring 2023.