By Terry Georgia
The Surveyor

Twenty years after moving to Berthoud, Northern Water is expanding its headquarters buildings and campus at First Street and Water Avenue. Having outgrown previous locations in Greeley and Loveland, Northern Water moved to Berthoud in 2003 where they would have room to expand as the demand for their services increased.
Since the 1930s Northern Water has been responsible for overseeing the collection, conservation and distribution of water in much of northern Colorado. In the early days, they served mostly rural farms and ranches, but as industry moved into the area and the population grew, new water projects were needed to ensure access to enough water.
Today, Northern Water oversees the rights and distribution of water to one million people and 1.6 million acres of land. They supervise the construction of new reservoirs, pipelines and other infrastructure to collect and divert water from the west slope to the northern front range along the Cache La Poudre, Big Thompson, St. Vrain and South Platte rivers, stretching from Estes Park in the west to Julesburg in the east, north past Ft. Collins and south to Broomfield.
The continued addition of water conservation and distribution projects has triggered a long-planned expansion of the Northern Water campus. Planned in three phases, the first phase of new construction was recently completed with the opening of Building F, which houses a new operations and control center with offices and work spaces for field and operations crews.
Phase II is under construction now, scheduled to be completed in 2024. It includes the renovation and a large addition to the main headquarters building which will feature a new public entrance and expanded parking. Phase II also includes a major expansion of the Conservation Gardens, a park-like area featuring interactive exhibits designed to help educate the public about water conservation techniques. The goal is to encourage public access and provide information.
Phase III has not been scheduled yet, but will include vehicle maintenance and garage buildings as well as a fueling area.
The total cost of all three phases of construction is estimated at about 67 million dollars.