Colorado Water
There may be hope for migrating whooping cranes as far as water in the Platte river goes, according to an editorial in the Denver Post [August 9, 2004, "A solution on Platte River fight"]. From the article, "Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska residents gave federal agencies an earful recently about plans to keep enough water in the Platte River to save whooping cranes and other endangered species. But the feds deserve credit: Habitat loss and conflicts among water users on the central Platte River must be resolved; the question is how much pain any interest group suffers. A plan envisioned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers a sensible, cooperative solution among the states and the feds, and gives some certainty to farmers and towns that use the Platte River. Other options would inflict worse economic pain, take longer to implement and be less effective in saving endangered species."
Denver Water will be releasing stored water to downstream users on the Colorado river to satisfy an agreement with the Federal government, according to the Rocky Mountain News [August 9, 2004, "Water payback not a drop in the bucket"]. From the article, "Denver Water must give the Western Slope an amount of water equal to almost 10 percent of what the utility uses each year, dropping reservoir levels noticeably even as Denver considers lifting watering restrictions. Under an agreement with the federal government, Denver Water must release 26,439 acre-feet of water from its reservoirs by late fall. The unusual debt payment is enough water for more than 50,000 households. The water will head down the Colorado River to farmers in the Grand Junction region."
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