Granby
From Granby to Kremmling, the Colorado River moseys through ranches, meadows and canyons. Lately, this stretch of historic river has been known as the 22-mile reach.
From Windy Gap Reservoir to the confluence of the Blue River, the Colorado takes hits from two big water diverters: the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (CBT) and Denver Water.
The minimum stream flows are too junior to the transmountain diversions to save the river. Denver Water and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which operates the CBT, legally have rights to water. And they want to get every drop they are entitled to.
But the Colorado is hurting. Low flows have increased sediment and water temperatures. Weeds and algae thrive in the summer. Irrigation pumps clog with moss. Channels that once flowed all year freeze in the winter. Trout need clear, cold water and rocky river bottoms to thrive.
Ranchers can tell you how much the Colorado has changed over the past 10 years. Duane Scholl recalls searching for a drowned man in the river from Parshall to Kremmling during a 1950’s spring runoff. “I had a 20-foot metal pole with a grapple hook. In many places through that stretch of river we couldn’t touch bottom.”
Today, you can wade across the river. Scholl says, “I have fished the Colorado all my life. Until the last 10 years, there was never any moss. Now it’s choked with moss from the Williams Fork to Kremmling.”
In September, things came to a head. If ranchers had taken their water for fall irrigating, the river would have dried up. Art Bruchez offers guided fishing on his ranch between Parshall and Kremmling. His weekend booked with fishermen, Bruchez woke up to low water. “The river was further down than any time I can remember, even in the 2002 drought.” Like Bruchez, many ranchers depend on guided fishing to supplement their income. Low water stresses the trout. Many ranchers chose not to take their water rights. In some cases, the water was too low to pump.
What happened was a “perfect storm” scenario. Lake Granby is the CBT’s largest reservoir. On Sept. 1, NCWCD reduced flows from Lake Granby to the Colorado River from 40 to 20 CFS – which isn’t much water. (One CFS equals 7.5 gallons per second, or 2 acre feet a day.)
At the same time, Denver Water reduced flows from Williams Fork Reservoir, which feeds the Colorado River near Parshall. Flows were reduced to 49 CFS on Sept. 2, says Dave Little, manager of water resources and general planning.
With both entities diverting flows, the Colorado dipped to dangerously low levels. A few days later, Denver Water switched dam releases from Dillon Reservoir to Williams Fork, which helped. “As soon as we started squawking and calling,” Bruschez says, “the water came up immediately.”
North of Kremmling, plenty of water was running through Gore Canyon thanks to releases from Dillon and Green Mountain. But 22 miles of Colorado River in the middle was left high and dry. The river near the Troublesome measured 93 CFS; minimum stream flows, set by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, are 150 CFS.
In 1937, the Senate specified how the CBT should operate, protecting both east and west slope beneficiaries, which includes ranchers on the Colorado. Adequate flows must be maintained for aquatic life and agricultural water rights. In 1961, the Secretary of Interior determined Lake Granby should ratchet down from 40 to 20 CFS on Sept. 1.
Instead of automatically reducing flows to 20 CFS on Sept. 1, shouldn’t the operator of the CBT look at current conditions? Shouldn’t Denver Water do the same? Ranchers do. When ranchers take water to irrigate their hay fields, 80 percent returns to the river. When the NCWCD and Denver take water, it’s gone.
Grand County ranchers, officials and river advocates have high hopes for a Bureau of Reclamation meeting promised by Fred Ore, area manager. Ore wants to get all the players together to discuss how to better manage this section of river. Information coordinator Kara Lamb says the meeting is scheduled for tomorrow – good news, because no one wants to see the river dry up.
Driving down Highway 40 next to the Colorado River, I see signs promoting Gold Medal fishing on the 22-mile reach, and I don’t understand why more consideration isn’t given to protecting the river.
Scholl says it best. “I can see no justification for any government entity to not somehow adjust its water appetite to keep the Colorado a sound river.”
Gretchen Bergen is a freelance writer.
