Editorial - tuesday, Dec. 1

F or more than a century, as Colorado water law was enshrined in transmountain diversion after transmountain diversion, the West Slope suffered these indignities as long as there was sufficient water for agriculture. Now that energy development, a robust tourism economy, agriculture and endangered species all compete for this most precious of resources on this side of the Divide, the prevailing reality could scarcely be more fundamentally different than it was as these laws were being etched in granite.

At the very least, Denver Water should be forced to mitigate the impacts of any further diversions from the Fraser Valley, where a seriously depleted river already represents the ultimate limit to development, and a once-world class fishery teeters on the brink. Read more