ASPEN — Aspen and Pitkin County officials are raising questions about plans to send more water from Ruedi Reservoir down the Colorado River to benefit endangered fish when the city needs the water for electricity and recreational fishing.
The water is owned by the Ute Water Conservancy District, which purchased 12,000 acre-feet of Ruedi water in 2012, in anticipation of growth and as a backup for more than 80,000 customers and others in the Grand Valley if Grand Mesa supplies dry up in a drought year.
Saying it has no need for Ruedi water this year, Ute has asked the Colorado Water Conservation Board about leasing the water to benefit four endangered species of fish in the Colorado.
“This is Ute trying to do something for the environment,” Ute general manager Larry Clever said.
Clever said releasing Ute’s water from Ruedi could also benefit water users in other states.
He said his goal is to put the water in Lake Powell, which some people fear could drop so low as to hinder electricity generation at Glen Canyon Dam.
That could require the Bureau of Reclamation to take action to lower Upper Colorado River reservoirs to maintain the dam’s generating capacity.
Aspen and Pitkin County officials, however, have questions about the deal and have asked the conservation board to explain it in a meeting Tuesday in Carbondale, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported.
