Aaron Million has proposed a pipeline to move water from the Green River above Flaming Gorge Reservoir to Colorado's Front Range. Here's an update on the project from Chris Woodka writing for the Pueblo Chieftain From the article:
An entrepreneur seeking to build a pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Wyoming to deliver water to the Colorado Front Range says his project is being hijacked by water interests in the South Metro Water Supply Authority. "Let's be clear: They're trying to steal the project," Aaron Million, who formed Million Resource Conservation Group to develop the Flaming Gorge pipeline, said last week. "I don't understand the deal. They're supposed to be men of honor. They should act as such."
Rod Kuharich, executive director of the South Metro group, refused to comment on Million's charge, saying there could be a lawsuit in the future. The group is exploring the possibility of a Colorado-Wyoming coalition, and has had a few stormy meetings with Million. Million approached Kuharich at the Colorado Water Congress convention last week, offering an "olive branch," but Kuharich simply told Million he was welcome to talk to the South Metro board at its next meeting Monday...
Million said some aspects of the pipeline were shared with South Metro, supposedly in confidentiality. About one year ago, however, Million learned the South Metro group was contacting some of the same people he had in Wyoming...
It's no secret that South Metro is interested in the project. It is part of the range of solutions discussed in the group's 2007 master plan. Last month, at an Action 22 meeting in Pueblo, Colorado Department of Natural Resources Director Harris Sherman mentioned the competing plans. South Metro water users are trying to form a Colorado-Wyoming coalition to get buy-in to the interstate issues.
Meanwhile the Army Corps of Engineers already has begun working on an environmental impact statement for Million's project, which could take almost three years to complete. Million filed an application in water court for water rights on the Green River for the project in December 2007...
The state of Colorado is making it clear, however, that it is not taking sides on whether either project should be developed. "We're not going to become involved in any dispute between Mr. Million and the South Metro authority," DNR spokesman Theo Stein said Tuesday. This is not the first time Million has hit rough waters with Colorado water users. The Front Range Water Council, a group of the largest municipal water users in the state, in August 2007 asked the Bureau of Reclamation to delay a contract with Million until state water availability studies were completed.