Colorado’s population, now 4.4 million, may reach 6.6 million in just 20 years. Since nature isn’t likely to bless us with more snow and rain to provide water for all those people, our state must better use the resources it has.
Last week, mainstream environmental groups released a thoughtful report on how Colorado can craft a comprehensive strategy to meet Front Range water needs. The stretch from Greeley and Pueblo is home to about 80 percent of the state’s people, and those communities should cooperate, not compete, on water issues.
The environmentalists emphasize the need for more conservation. They calculate that intensive conservation efforts over the next 25 years could save 200,000 acre-feet of water annually, enough to supply about 1 million new residents.
But for the first time, the organizations – Trout Unlimited, Western Resource Advocates, and the Colorado Environmental Coalition – acknowledged a need for more water storage. The groups prefer that Colorado expand existing dams and reservoirs before building new ones. They also say future projects should be smaller than the huge dams that were built in the past.
Still, the moderate environmentalists have reached the indisputable conclusion that there isn’t any single answer to the Front Range’s water woes, so the state needs a package of affordable, ecologically sustainable actions.
Meanwhile, the Denver Water Board and Northern Colorado Conservancy District met last week in Keystone with Western Slope water interests. The two sides of the Continental Divide long have wrangled over the Front Range’s quest to pump more water over the mountains. For example, Denver Water and Summit County are wrangling over Denver’s desire to further use the Blue River, while Fraser Valley residents fear Denver could dry up the Fraser River. But last week, leaders from both sides of the divide pledged to work intensively over the next year to resolve disagreements.
While the two developments were welcome, it’s unfortunate that they occurred independently. Environmentalists can’t improve conservation policies without help from water providers, and providers can’t make progress on water projects without talking to environmentalists. Future discussions must be more inclusive so all sides can help craft solutions.
