 Colorado Water
Southwestern Colorado is looking towards the best runoff since 1997, according to the Denver Post [March 31, 2005, "Snowpack buoys southern Colorado, but Front Range has sinking feeling"]. Meanwhile northern Colorado officials are asking, "What runoff?" From the article, "By many measures, the water supply forecast for northeastern Colorado looks little better than last year. Basins that serve Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Aurora and Colorado Springs were 15 to 20 percent below normal just days before the final April 1 snow measurements. That's dragged the statewide snowpack index to just 109 percent of normal...Snowfields above Denver Water's reservoirs, which sit on both sides of the Continental Divide, are at 78 percent of average for this time of year. The utility's reservoirs are 71 percent full. In an average year, they would be at 81 percent."
Colorado and the other Colorado River basin states have not come up with an agreement to share the river, as directed by federal water officials last December, according to the Rocky Mountain News [March 31, 2005, "Deadline for river sharing pact near"]. From the article, "In December, federal water officials told the states to find a way to share the river during droughts or live with a federal plan that will divvy up the water for them. But weeks of negotiations have failed to yield an agreement, federal and state officials said Wednesday."
HB 1177 passed the House 48-15 yesterday establishing regional water round tables to work out water allocation problems, according to the Rocky Mountain News [March 31, 2005, "House OKs round-table talks on water"].
Westword has whipped up a little education piece for the Denver Water Department.
6:31:28 AM 
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