Here's a report from the first day of the 32nd Colorado Water Workshop, from the Pueblo Chieftain. They write, "The three-day conference is focusing on Colorado River issues, which could have an impact on the amount of water imported into the Arkansas and South Platte river basins. The impact could be negative, if the growing states of California, Arizona and Nevada pressure upstream states - Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - to deliver water in a system that is already stretched to the limits. Negotiators from all seven states have been working for several years to find a way to share surpluses and shortages under the 85-year-old compact.
"On the other hand, more water could be brought to the Front Range through a proposal by Aaron Million to use private funding to construct a pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Million spoke about his plan to build a $2 billion-$3 billion pipeline that would deliver 165,000-200,000 acre-feet of water from the 3.8 million acre-foot reservoir in Wyoming. 'Flaming Gorge was built for the benefit of the upper basin states and Colorado should share in those benefits,' Million said...
"The harsh reality of compact negotiations could make it difficult to use the water as Million envisions, said Scott Balcomb, a Glenwood Springs lawyer who has represented Colorado in interstate negotiations for six years. 'On paper, it looks great,' Balcomb said. 'But we're at the point where any new water comes out of the hides of industry in California and Arizona.' Balcomb explained the downstream states have become dependent on Colorado River water and suggested the river might already be overappropriated. 'The 1,000 people a day who are coming into Las Vegas aren't calling ahead to see if there's enough water,' Balcomb said...
"Boulder environmental lawyer Larry MacDonnell said the lower basin states already are using more than their share of the Colorado River, because the compact - or 'law of the river' - does not take tributaries or evaporation in Arizona and Nevada into account. He said upper basin states are held accountable for all inflows and evaporation in the way the river is measured...
"Dave Wegner, a former Bureau of Reclamation scientist, said a basinwide environmental impact statement is needed. He said the doctrine of Western water has become a 'religion' [amen] based on the dogma of irrigation rights and muddied by lawyers, lobbyists and politicians. 'Reservoirs are not the Holy Grail they were intended to be,' Wegner said. 'We have to figure out a way to protect landscapes, yet still make sure everyone has enough water.'"
More coverage from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. They write, "According to Fort Collins entrepreneur Aaron Million, it's going to take his $3 billion water pipeline to get people on both sides of the Continental Divide to work together to solve Colorado's water problems...
"Butch Clark, who devised Colorado's never-built 'Big Straw' project two decades ago, told Million a better use for his pipeline and Flaming Gorge water is to provide water for northwest Colorado's booming energy industry...
"Dave Wegner, chief scientist for Ecosystem Management International in Durango and a former Bureau of Reclamation scientist, said it's 'high time' for all of the Colorado River Basin states complete a basin-wide environmental impact statement. Such an effort, he said, would fully outline all the demands on Colorado River water and the water needs of Indian tribes, show how the basin could be managed as a whole rather than in parts and illustrate how the states could work together to manage the river. Such a proposal was made in the early 1980s, he said, but the political climate wasn't right. Not so today. 'The climate of understanding within Washington and the states realizes that we need to come to grips with how we manage this,' Wegner said."
"colorado water"
6:30:23 AM 
|
