"The Denver Board of Water Commissioners is declaring a Stage 1 drought in recognition of low streamflows and projected low runoff. Anticipating the possibility of continued dry water, customers will be asked to voluntarily cut back on water use by 10 percent."
Where Does Your Water Come From?
Hint: "The faucet" is not the correct answer.
If you live in Denver, Boulder and many other cities on the front range, at least some of your water comes from the upper Colorado River Basin on the other side of the Continental Divide. As you'll recall from 6th grade or thereabouts, that water is supposed to flow to the Pacific Ocean.
But the front range has been pulling water out of the upper Colorado for decades - and now water providers are planning to take even more. The question is - how much can you take before the river starts to die?
Tapped Out: The Upper Colorado on the Brink is a short documentary designed to make people think about the effect our water use in cities has on rivers and economies many miles distant.
Sucking the River Dry
"How much water does a river need to stay alive? At what point does the upper Colorado cease to be a functioning river? We may be dangerously close to finding out."
Sucked Dry: Will State Leaders Help Defend the Embattled Colorado River?
By Drew Peternell, Trout Unlimited
If you’ve driven down the hill on I-70 recently, perhaps after an escape to one of Colorado’s West Slope playgrounds, you might have seen a billboard near Golden that warns, “Don’t Suck the Upper Colorado River Dry.”
It’s a blunt wake-up call to state leaders, water utilities, Front Range residents, and all Coloradans who care about the future of our state’s namesake river.
The Colorado River, from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park down through Granby, Kremmling, Glenwood Springs and beyond, has long been a favorite destination for Front Range residents. Generations of Coloradans have fished, hunted, hiked, camped and floated along the waters of the Colorado.
But most Front Range residents don't realize that much of the water they use at home comes directly from the streams and rivers of the upper Colorado River basin. A spider-web network of dams and pumps and pipelines delivers water from the Colorado and other West Slope rivers to showerheads and sprinklers in Denver and surrounding areas.
Already Front Range utilities take about 60 percent of the water that originates in the upper Colorado River basin, draining Grand County to the point that many of its once pristine streams now run dry.
The Fraser River, a Colorado tributary where President Eisenhower spent summers fishing, is among the hardest hit.
The low stream flows take a devastating toll on river health. Studies show dramatic declines in the size and health of trout, and entire classes of aquatic insects have disappeared from the river. Because of low stream flows and high water temperatures, the Colorado and several tributaries are choked with silt and algae.
More Proposed Diversions
And now, Front Range water providers are planning to drain the Colorado and Fraser rivers some more.
Two proposed water-diversion projects -- Denver Water's Moffat Collection System Project and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District's Windy Gap Firming Project -- threaten to push the Colorado and Fraser rivers and their tributaries past the tipping point. Combined, the projects could leave as little as 25 percent of native upper Colorado River water on the West Slope.
A river with one quarter of its natural flow. If present trends continue, the mighty Colorado River could someday be called Colorado Creek -- or the Colorado Trickle.
How much water does a river need to stay alive? At what point does the upper Colorado cease to be a functioning river? We may be dangerously close to finding out.
The CPW Study
A 2011 report by the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife (CPW) underscores the poor ecological health of the upper Colorado River. Led by respected veteran CPW biologist Barry Nehring, the study documents a river in sharp decline, suffering from multiple maladies caused largely by water diversions to the Front Range (see sidebar).
The CPW study acknowledges that these problems are likely to worsen with additional water withdrawals. It outlines several measures needed to maintain the health of the Colorado River under the lower flow conditions that would result from the projects Denver Water and the Northern Water District are proposing.
The three key measures are: (1) preservation of higher spring flushing flows to help remove sediment that smothers fish and insect habitat; (2) stream reconfiguration to narrow the channel, so that the remaining water flows are deeper, cooler, and faster; and (3) construction of a bypass around Windy Gap Reservoir -- a source of silt, algae, thermal pollution, and the lethal rainbow trout whirling disease.
Current project plans do not include the protections the CPW report identified as necessary to maintain the health of the upper Colorado River under the increased diversions.
Insufficient Protections for the River
In a formal letter issued in February, the EPA listed a host of concerns about the river impacts of the Moffat and Windy Gap project proposals. Citing the CPW study at length, the EPA called for stronger protections than in the fish and wildlife mitigation plans the Colorado Wildlife Commission approved for the projects last summer.
But Governor Hickenlooper and other state officials responsible for protecting Colorado’s natural resources recently have distanced themselves from the CPW report, asserting that the present mitigation packages are sufficient to preserve the river -- notwithstanding the conclusions of state wildlife biologists and the EPA to the contrary.
There is no doubt that the Colorado Wildlife Commission and its staff reviewed the fish and wildlife mitigation plans carefully and secured as much protection for the Colorado and Fraser Rivers they thought they could. But state law -- as interpreted by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office -- limited the Wildlife Commission’s authority to demand broader protections. During the hearings, several wildlife commissioners publicly lamented that they could not do more.
Time for a Way Forward
Hickenlooper is rightfully proud of the so-called “Cooperative Agreement” he helped broker last year between Denver Water and a number of West Slope stakeholders. The agreement places some restrictions on future Denver Water projects that impact the Colorado River, and it requires Denver to increase its conservation efforts.
But let there be no confusion. The agreement does not address the Moffat and Windy Gap project proposals, and it does not fully resolve the problems facing the Colorado River.
Governor Hickenlooper has a golden opportunity to follow-up on his good work on the cooperative agreement. He should bring interested parties to the table to craft a final mitigation plan that fully addresses the impacts of the current water withdrawal proposals.
If state officials are unwilling or unable to join the effort to protect these important resources, they need to step aside and let the federal agencies do their job as they review the projects.
Much to Lose
No one would claim that finding a solution will be easy -- these are tough, complex challenges. But, with cooperation and leadership from the state, the project proponents and other interested parties, it should be possible to craft a way forward that supplies additional water to the Front Range while keeping the Colorado River healthy.
The West Slope rivers that we tap to deliver water to the Front Range are priceless. They are vital to the health of mountain communities, Colorado's $10 billion-a-year outdoor recreation economy, and the high quality of life Coloradans enjoy.
Given all we stand to lose, now is the time to find a solution that preserves the Colorado River as the state treasure that it is.
For more information and to add your voice to those calling for protection of the Colorado River, go to www.defendthecolorado.org.
A River on the Brink
A 2011 study by the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife found that water diversions to the Front Range have caused severe ecological damage to the upper Colorado River. The impacts to the river below Windy Gap Reservoir include:
- A 38 percent decline in aquatic insect life;
- A complete elimination of native sculpin fish -- a key indicator of stream health;
- An almost total loss of the population of giant stoneflies -- once the dominant aquatic food source on the river;
- An “armoring” of the river bottom from sediment and silt, destroying spawning habitat for trout and smothering aquatic insect populations.
The study concludes that additional water withdrawals from the proposed Moffat Collection System and Windy Gap Firming projects will make these problems worse.
Drew Peternell is director of the Colorado Water Project for Trout Unlimited, whose mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.
And go to www.defendthecolorado.org to learn more and join the effort.
Action !
Want to know what Colorado TU is doing to reach out to young people?
Jake Lemon is Colorado TU's Youth Education Coordinator and a lucky guy. He's engaged to Kate Prestine, a woman of obvious talent who has put together a really nice video on Colorado TU's youth initiatives. It's called Creating Tomorrow's Conservationists. Nice job, Kate!
Check it out on vimeo.
Colorado TU Honors Save the Colorado
Colorado TU has honored Save the Colorado with its River Stewardship Award for the consortium’s efforts to protect and restore the Colorado River from its source to the sea.
The award was presented at the 2012 Colorado TU Auction & Gala on Friday evening, March 16. Save the Colorado is a collation of businesses and foundations, spearheaded by the New Belgium Brewing Company with supporting sponsors that include Teva, Patagonia, the Clean Water Fund, National Geographic, Clif Bar, the Environment Foundation, Environment Now and the Kenney Brothers Foundation.
New Belgium CEO Kim Jordan (2nd from left) accepted the award from Colorado TU President Sinjin Eberle (at left). The award is a large scale photograph of blue sky and canyon walls reflecting off the Colorado River by photographer Peter McBride, co-author with Jonathan Waterman of the book, The Colorado River: Flowing through Conflict.
The companies and foundations that created Save the Colorado initially committed nearly $500,000 in funding. “We’re very pleased to honor Save the Colorado and proud of our association with them, said Colorado TU president Sinjin Eberle. “Save the Colorado is a wonderful example of businesses working with non-profit organizations to protect a vital American resource.”
Save the Colorado has been a catalyst for efforts to create broad public awareness of the threats facing the Colorado as well as a financial resource for groups working on-the-ground to protect and restore the river, which runds more than 1,400 miles from its source in the Rocky Mountains to the Sea of Cortez.
More than 30 million people in seven states rely on the Colorado River system for their drinking water. Many more count on the river as a source of water for agriculture, hydro-electric power, recreation and industry. But the Colorado is an overburdened resource, and its waters and wildlife are threatened by an increasing number of dams and diversions, mineral extraction, population growth, invasive species and the potential impacts of climate change.
Nearly 300 people attended the 2012 Colorado TU Gala and Auction. An outstanding slate of items donated by our loyal and generous supporters were responsible for making it a very successful event. Each year, proceeds from the Gala play a substantial role in funding Colorado TU’s efforts toward river conservation, youth education and on-the-ground restoration projects.
Thank you to all who attended, to all who donated to our auction and to Save the Colorado!
Chief Justice Talks CO Water
When it comes to water law in Colorado, it's hard to argue that anyone carries as much weight as Chief Justice Greg Hobbs. And few reporters cover water issues as well as Chris Woodka of the Pueblo Chieftain.This week Judge Hobbs spoke to a group at CSU-Pueblo as part of the Colorado Water 2012 initiative, and Chris Woodka was there.
"The basis of water law is need, not speculation,” Hobbs said. “Show me the use, so you aren’t just leaving it sitting there to make gold."
TU Kicks Off Green with Envy Tour
TU's Green with Envy roadshow is an effort to protect the Green River and Flaming Gorge from the effects of a massive pipeline project. Here's an excerpt from a report in the Wyoming Business Report.
Presenter Walt Gasson, Trout Unlimited's endorsed business director, briefly invoked Dr. Seuss's Lorax in his impassioned plea to save the Green River.
"This is not a problem for people in Colorado or Thneedville who just want to wash their car or water their lawn," Gasson said. Instead, he said it is Wyoming and its $118 million local outdoor economy that will suffer the consequences of exporting 250,000 acre-feet of water annually. Of that water, 85,000 acre-feet would come from the Green River above Flaming Gorge while the rest would come from the reservoir itself. Read the full story by Mark Wilcox.
Green with Envy scheduled dates:
Steamboat Springs: May 15, 8 p.m., Community Center 1605 Lincoln Ave.
Grand Junction, Colorado: May 17, 7 p.m., Roper Music Ballroom, 130 N. 5th St.
Kerber Creek Gets 50K Grant
Trout Unlimited's Kerber Creek restoration project received a $50,000 grant from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation to help fund the next phase of restoration work on Kerber Creek, near the town of Salida in southwest Colorado.
Trout Unlimited has worked for six years to restore Kerber Creek from the impacts associated with the effects of mining. In the last three years, Trout Unlimited has spent $1.3 million to improve the stream.
"This grant will allow us to take the next critical step in a project that holds vital importance to the area," said Elizabeth Russell, Trout Unlimited's mine restoration project manager.
The Kerber Creek Restoration Project is a joint partnership between Trout Unlimited, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Bonanza Stakeholders Group (BSG), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), local landowners and other partners.
Historic mine tailings from mining that occurred decades ago have washed down through Kerber Creek and are contributing metals and acid drainage into the waterway. The project will work to treat the mine tailings and will install fish habitat and stream bank stabilization structures. (The Collegiate Peaks Chapter has been a key player in the Kerber Creek restoration. Read an October 2011 article by Salida Mountain Mail's Joe Stone on the Kerber cleanup.)
Trout Unlimited and its partners are working to increase understanding of the environmental issues associated with legacy mining and public awareness of restoration projects.
03/09/2012 Contact: Erin Mooney, Trout Unlimited, (215) 557-2845, emooney@tu.org
Trout Unlimited is a non-profit organization with more than 147,000 members dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. Follow TU on Facebook on Twitter via @TroutUnlimited.
The Upper Colorado: "a collapsing eco-system?"
Is the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement a good deal? While some praise the pact between Denver Water and west slope interests, others question whether the best interests of the Colorado are at the forefront.
"Studies conducted by the Colorado Division of Wildlife clearly show that the upper Colorado River is a collapsing ecosystem. Most of this is due to the fact that well more than 65 percent of the upper Colorado is drained by diversions to the Front Range."
On the Vail Valley Voices page of the Vail Daily's website, CTU Past-president Ken Neubecker questions just how good the CRCA is for the river when all things are considered. Read Ken Neubecker's letter.
Snowpack Inches Up, Falls Short
We had a pretty good February, but we're still down statewide for the season.
According to the Associated Press
"The South Platte basin is in the best shape with a snowpack that's 89 percent of average. The Yampa/White basin is the lowest at 74 percent."
