Union Park Reservoir, the controversial plan to tap the Gunnison River headwaters for Front Range communities, suffered a serious setback last week when a state judge revoked a key water right.
Judge J. Steven Patrick of the Montrose District Court ruled Wednesday that the Natural Energy Resource Co.’s proposal to develop a hydropower plant above the Taylor River was not feasible because there wasn’t enough water to make it work.
As a result, Patrick ordered the cancellation of Natural Energy’s water right – which was granted 21 years ago on the condition that the company build a hydropower plant. No plant has been built.
Dave Miller, Natural Energy’s president, said the company is preparing an appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.
“Agriculture is going to be the biggest loser if this decision stands,” Miller said. “Cities can always buy out farms.”
Miller’s vision of tapping the Gunnison River, which produces almost as much water as the Upper Colorado River, to supply Front Range growth has riled the Western Slope for more than two decades.
“Dave thinks it’s a panacea to solve the Front Range’s water problems,” said Diane Lothamer, a member of the Upper Gunnison Water Conservancy District board. “But we need a better idea than stealing all the water from the Gunnison River.”
Natural Energy joined with Arapahoe County in 1986 to convert Miller’s plan for a 325,00 acre-foot hydropower project into a reservoir that could hold 1.2 million acre-feet, or 391 billion gallons, and ship water to the Denver metro area and Colorado Springs.
In 1991, a judge ruled that only 20,000 acre-feet were available on the Taylor River, a tributary of the Gunnison, to service the project.
Last year, Western Slope water users and environmental groups challenged Natural Energy’s hydropower right, arguing the company had not done enough to move the project forward.
Miller has floated the idea of leasing water from the Bureau of Reclamation, which – on paper at least – maintains a pool of 300,000 acre-feet of potentially marketable water in Blue Mesa Reservoir.
Critics say the water is already being used for irrigation, drinking supplies and endangered fish.
Water from Blue Mesa is also helping to refill Lake Powell, which fell to historic lows during the drought.
Under the Colorado River Compact, Lake Powell supplies Lake Mead, which straddles the border between Nevada and Arizona and supplies those states and California with water.
Miller contends that allowing that water to go downstream rather than using it within the state will handicap Colorado’s economy.
“We think its bad news for Colorado, good news for California, Arizona and Nevada,” Miller said. “If Colorado doesn’t save its compact waters, its future is in serious jeopardy.”
Staff writer Theo Stein can be reached at 303-820-1657 or tstein@denverpost.com.
