Colorado Water
The Forest Service has taken a position in support of a plan to protect 70 some miles of the South Platte River, according to the Rocky Mountain News [June 25, 2004, "Feds are on board with S. Platte plan"]. From the article, "The South Platte Protection Plan would place a 20-year moratorium on building an alternative to the Two Forks Dam project and require that certain water-flow levels be maintained. It also would permanently ban water projects in the Elevenmile and Cheesman canyons and create two monitoring groups to make sure the plan is implemented...The Forest Service doesn't have the authority to approve or require that the protection plan be implemented. Instead, it is a voluntary agreement that has been worked out among governments, water providers, and environmental groups on how the South Platte southwest of Denver will be managed and used. Under the agreement, water providers have six months to certify to the Forest Service that they will comply with the plan, including contributing to a $1 million endowment to fund restoration and recreation projects on the river. One of the provisions is that Denver Water and the Metropolitan Denver Water Authority will withdraw its water court application for a water storage project at the Two Forks site. But Denver Water officials say that doesn't mean the Two Forks project is banned altogether.
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