Northern Water has halted some design and construction contracts and is cutting back its multibillion dollar, two-dam supply project after its biggest customer said it was pulling out , officials said, as they detailed how the budget for their decades-long ambition suddenly jumped to $2.69 billion from $2 billion.

Four design-and-build contracts for the Northern Integrated Supply Project, meant to serve growth in 15 communities and water agencies, were pulled from the bidding process for at least three to four months while engineers consider how costs could be cut, Northern Water General Manager Brad Wind said in an interview Monday. The Fort Collins-Loveland Water District, serving about 60,000 people, was responsible for about 20% of the water supply and construction costs, the larges

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