Flaming Gorge pipeline update

Here’s an in-depth look at Aaron Million’s proposed pipeline from southwestern Wyoming to the Front Range and points south in Colorado, from Joel Warner writing for Westword. Here’s an excerpt:

Disclaimer: I’m quoted in the article.

Along the Green River in Wyoming, cities and towns are massing to fight a proposal that would pump up to 250,000 acre-feet of water per year from their river to thirsty cities and towns in Colorado. One meeting on the topic was so contentious that attendees have referred to it as a “Guantánamo Bay waterboarding.”

The focus of the uproar is a relatively unknown Fort Collins entrepreneur named Aaron Million, who came up with the plan to bring the much-needed water to Colorado. And these days, he has as many enemies on this side of the border as he does in Wyoming. Some of Colorado’s most powerful water suppliers oppose the project, while one is trying to build a similar pipeline himself. One ensuing squabble nearly came to blows.

Here’s a follow up the the Million story detailing the disappearing glaciers that are part of the Green River’s source waters, from Joel Warner writing for Westword. From the article:

When [Charlie Love, a colorful geology and anthropology professor at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyoming] isn’t busy living with New Guinea cannibals or erecting dinosaur displays on WWCC’s campus, he’s spent a lot of time over the past 25 years climbing around and flying over the glaciers that cling to the sides of the Wind River Mountain Range in western Wyoming, glaciers that feed the Green and several other major river systems. And what Love says he and his WWCC colleagues have discovered about these glaciers is disturbing: “They are going extinct before our very eyes.”

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Parker: Rueter-Hess Reservoir update

So far Parker and its partners in Rueter-Hess Reservoir — currently under construction southwest of the city — do not have enough surface water to fill the 77,000 acre-feet reservoir. Here’s a report from Bruce Finley writing for The Denver Post. From the article:

The prospect of what critics call an empty bathtub is generating anxiety around Colorado as water managers clash over the last unclaimed mountain river flows. Most water to fill the Rueter-Hess reservoir “will have to be imported,” said Frank Jaeger, manager of the Parker Water and Sanitation District, who for 25 years has led the effort to supply 450,000 suburban residents. Importing water would require multibillion-dollar pumping and piping from rivers running down the western side of the Continental Divide, such as the Colorado, back across mountains to Front Range residents, Jaeger said. Though huge, the costs likely would be less than for alternatives such as trapping and treating contaminated water from the South Platte or Arkansas rivers, he said. The option Jaeger and a Colorado-Wyoming coalition of municipal suppliers favor — one of four being considered by state natural resources officials — would divert water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in western Wyoming along Interstate 80 to Colorado…

Yet Colorado Western Slope leaders see the $230 million Rueter-Hess reservoir as folly — and bristle at talk of diverting more water across the mountains to fill it. The reservoir “is 20 times more expensive, and 10 times as big as they need. It’s going to be a little bit of water in a big bathtub,” said Eric Kuhn, manager of the Colorado River Water Conservation District, based in Glenwood Springs. The financing, based on tap fees from anticipated housing construction, “is the water equivalent of a Ponzi scheme,” Kuhn said…”There’s a very good chance that, in the long run, there’s not going to be any more water available on the Western Slope. And, if they’re having trouble now paying for Rueter-Hess, how are they going to pay for moving water from the Western Slope? That’s why I say this is a fairy tale,” Kuhn said…

This month, more construction vehicles are rolling into action to build up the 7,700-foot-wide Frank Jaeger Dam at the reservoir. Critics “can make their claims,” but the reservoir will be crucial to sustain population growth, Jaeger said. Paying off the debt for the construction now underway all depends on tax revenues from future growth, he said. “To say, ‘We’ll just shut off growth’ will only exacerbate problems,” he said. “If you don’t pay off debt, what do you do? What does that do to the economy of the whole state? We need steady, controlled growth. All our needs for a reasonable lifestyle are tied into this.”

More Rueter-Hess coverage here and here.

Estes Park: Alpine Anglers meeting October 15 to feature impacts of transmountain diversions

From the Estes Park Trail Gazette:

Ken Neubecker, president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, will speak Thursday on the impact of water diversions from the upper Colorado River. “More than half of the water of the upper Colorado is already diverted to the Front Range for agricultural and municipal use,” said Neubecker. “Now two new projects could take almost half of what remains.” But as conservation, government and business interests in Grand County geared up for a protracted fight, water developers Denver Water and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District agreed to work with local agencies to find ways to meet the water needs of the Front Range while minimizing the impact on wildlife and recreation on the Colorado and Fraser Rivers. Neubecker will speak about the situation at the Alpine Anglers` monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15 in the Hondius Room of the Estes Park Public Library. The public is invited.

More transmountain/transbasin diversions coverage here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: Western Resource Advocates pushes needs assessment while southern Wyoming towns help with ‘evaluation’

Here’s a release from Western Resource Advocates:

At the urging of Western Resource Advocates and others, the US Army Corps of Engineers is requiring proponents of a controversial water pipeline to prove that it is needed. The proposed Million Project, a 560-mile pipeline that would move water from southwestern Wyoming to Colorado’s populous Front Range, is applying for a permit — yet there are no identified customers for the water.

At least six other major water projects that pre-date the Million Project are already in the planning stages. And although the Million Project claims it is needed to meet the Front Range’s future water demands, the proponents of these other projects have shown no indication that they’ll abandon their plans and rely on Million’s proposal instead. Thus, as a mechanism for solving anticipated regional water demands, the Million pipeline proposal is at least a decade too late.

The Million Project is vehemently opposed by residents of Wyoming and is under scrutiny in Colorado. As the largest proposed private water project in Colorado’s history, the Million Project raises concerns about speculation because it is against Colorado water law to acquire water without first identifying who will use it.

Demonstrating the need for the pipeline is but one troubling question confronting the Million Project. The movement of up to 250,000 acre-feet of water each year would require a vast amount of energy, adding to the ecological impacts of the pipeline. The pipeline could also jeopardize endangered fish, transport invasive species, and diminish recreation and wildlife habitat in the Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the Green River that is already suffering from drought.

Meanwhile, from the Associated Press (Ben Neary) via The Denver Post:

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming says local governments in southwestern Wyoming will help to evaluate a private developer’s proposal to build a pipeline to take water from the Green River.
Colorado entrepreneur Aaron Million has proposed building a multibillion dollar pipeline to carry water from the Green River in Wyoming to Colorado’s Front Range. Barrasso, a Republican, says he stepped in to allow Sweetwater County, the Sweetwater County Conservation District and the cities of Rock Springs and Green River to serve as participating agencies with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in reviewing the pipeline proposal.

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: Reclamation estimates that 165,000 acre-feet per year is available for development

From the Associated Press (Ben Neary) via CBS4Denver.com:

The study found that up to 165,000 acre feet of water could be drawn from the reservoir each year through 2049 while still allowing enough water to generate hydropower and to meet the needs of endangered fish species downstream.

Drawing 165,000 acre feet a year over 40 years would draw the level of Flaming Gorge Reservoir down from its current elevation of 6,030 feet a bove sea level to just above 5,900 feet, the study found. According to bureau figures, the reservoir has a surface area of nearly 30,000 acres when its elevation is at 6,000 feet and its surface area would drop to just under 11,000 acres at the 5,900 foot level.

After 2050, as development in Wyoming increases, the bureau study projected Flaming Gorge Reservoir could sustain an annual diversion rate of 120,000 acre feet. The agency is updating that draft analysis, and agency officials say their projections of the amount of available water may well go lower.

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: Size of diversion still up in the air

Here’s an update on Aaron Million’s plans to move water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the Green River to Colorado’s Front Range, from Ben Neary writing for the Associated Press via The Durango Herald. From the article:

Million said he is re-evaluating what would be a reasonable size for the pipeline project. He said he doesn’t have a figure yet of how much water he may apply to take from the river if he reduces his application. Million hasn’t modified his original applications to divert water, still pending with the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing a detailed environmental study of Million’s original proposal…

Million has said his planned pipeline would carry water more than 500 miles, east across Wyoming and then as far south as Pueblo. He has said that if the environmental review finds his project would harm the river ecosystem in ways that couldn’t be mitigated, he wouldn’t proceed…

Million said he wants to move all his planned water diversions downstream from the town of Green River. He said he’s now looking at a diversion point on the river below the town and another within Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

Brett Johnson, attorney for Sweetwater County, said Friday that county commissioners as well as city officials in Green River and Rock Springs openly oppose Million’s project. “The county is certainly concerned on the effects of taking the water out of the river and the effect that that will have on the Flaming Gorge and the uses that we have here – obviously fishing and recreation,” Johnson said. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freud-enthal also has come out against the pipeline project. He has said he opposes trans-basin diversions of water and also believes Million should disclose exactly where the water would be used. The Corps of Engineers announced recently that it will require Million to identify his potential customers in coming months. Million has said he has talked to municipalities and other possible water customers in Wyom-ing and Colorado, but has declined to name them so far…

Million said the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has determined that there’s a surplus of water in the Green River even after the needs of endangered species and other water uses are met. He said the analysis found that there’s a minimum of 165,000 acre-feet of water left over that would be available for the pipeline project.

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: They’re talking about the project in Vernal

From the Vernal Express (Mary Bernard):

[David Allison, environmental consultant for Uintah County] opened his talk before the Vernal Chamber luncheon saying the comment period relates to the environmental impact statement being prepared for Million’s permit request. “He has submitted project plans to the Corps in order to receive a permit for the 400-mile long pipeline,” says Allison…

“It’s a no-brainer,” Allison says enumerating the county’s concerns. “In the first place, based on water availability the amount of water requested may be unsustainable.” Water withdrawal would include 85,000 acre feet out of the Green River and 165,000 acre feet to be piped from Flaming Gorge Reservoir. “Secondly, they’re not dealing with issues relating to water rights in this environmental impact statement,” the consultant said. “Federal process under the National Environmental Protection Act do not allow severalty. They need to address all the impacts.”

The strongest argument Allison says is that water flows will be changed on the Green River which will likely further endanger protected species of fish. “We’ve spent a lot of money on threatened and endangered species,” Allison says, noting the considerable cost that has gone into protected lands like the Ouray Refuge in Brown’s Park.

He sums up effects by saying “these withdrawals will degrade water quality, increase temperature, raise sediment levels and alter flows.” “Local business will be affected as the draw-down will impact the recreational use of Flaming Gorge and the Green below the dam,” Allison says. “But these impacts are not part of the current Corps document in preparation.”

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Colorado Water Congress’ annual summer meeting

Here’s a recap of yesterday’s goings on at the annual conference, from Joe Hanel writing for The Durango Herald:

During a question-and-answer period, one audience member asked how [State Senator Josh] Penry’s support for building dams squared with his backing last year of Amendment 52, which would have capped the money in Colorado’s water savings accounts and redirected extra money to highways. Penry responded that the state doesn’t spend the money it has effectively. “We study too much. We analyze too much,” he said.

Harris Sherman, head of the state Department of Natural Resources, disputed Penry’s charge that Colorado does too many studies at the expense of physical projects. In 2007, the state made $146 million in project loans, $87 million in 2008 and $45 million this year. “To imply that the state has not funded water projects in recent years is simply inaccurate,” Sherman said. In any case, the Legislature drained $107 million from those accounts the last two years to help cover the state budget gap…

Rod Kuharich is director of the South Metro Water Supply Authority, which serves fast-growing suburbs that have an unreliable water supply. Kuharich sits on the IBCC, but he called it “dysfunctional” and said it spends too much time on studies. Kuharich complained that IBCC members have become even more entrenched in their regional perspectives. He wants the Gunnison basin to entertain the idea of a pipeline from Blue Mesa Reservoir to the Front Range.

But IBCC member Peter Nichols said it’s not surprising no agreement is in sight, four years after the IBCC began its work. The engineering of a big water project is much easier than the politics, he said. “Give this time to work,” Nichols said. “It took us 150 years to get here. If it takes us 15 years to get out of here, I don’t think that’s absurd.”

More IBCC coverage here.

More coverage of the conference, from The Cortez Journal (Joe Hanel):

State lawmakers have turned to savings accounts for dams, canals and pipelines in order to cope with a budget crisis that’s entering its third year. In the past two years, the Legislature has taken $107 million out of the water accounts, said Harris Sherman, director of the Department of Natural Resources. “These are funds that have been built up over decades,” Sherman said…

“There are staggering costs involved in meeting our future water needs – tens of billions of dollars,” he said.

But the water project funds won’t be paid back this year, and they’ll probably be raided again, said Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee. At the same time, cuts continue to threaten the State Engineer’s Office, which administers water rights. The office lost six jobs in Gov. Bill Ritter’s budget cuts this week. “I’m getting tired of this. Every year this happens, and we have got to find a way to solve this,” Curry said. This week’s cuts hit health care and human services especially hard. But in the long term, colleges are at risk. So Curry recommended that the water community reach out to advocates for higher education to find a solution to the perpetual budget crisis.

“We can’t have just water meetings anymore,” she said.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: Corps of Engineers extends comment period to September 28

From the Casper Start Tribune (Jeff Gearino) via Billings Gazette:

The scoping comment period for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ environmental impact statement will now close Sept. 28, Corps project leader Rena Brand said Tuesday in a media release.
She said the extended comment period will allow the Corps additional time to respond to more than 40 requests for cooperating agency status from a variety of agencies and organizations, including Green River and Sweetwater County.
“The Corps intends to communicate with some entities on consolidating participation by appointing a single point of contact to represent multiple entities,” Brand said…

locals contended the project would hurt local businesses in the area, would curtail future growth in Green River and neighboring Rock Springs and could threaten the world-class fisheries on the river and in the gorge. Last week, Rock Springs council members voted to join a coalition with Green River and the county that aims to fight Million’s proposal. The three governmental entities allocated a combined $450,000 to the Communities Protecting the Green River coalition for the effort, which officials said may include litigation. Additionally, the county and Green River are seeking cooperating agency status as part of the Corps’ environmental impact statement process. Corps officials predicted the draft EIS could be released as early as 2012, with a final permit decision taking up to five years.

In written comments submitted to the Corps last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it was opposed to the Million project plan. Service officials said the agency’s concerns focused on how the pipeline would affect threatened or endangered species, migratory birds and habitats, and the overall ecosystem balance.

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Colorado’s water future dependent on new transmountain diversions?

The Colorado Department of Natural Resources is looking at four pipeline concepts and two agricultural fallowing and dry up concepts as possible solutions to watering the unbridled growth along the Front Range. Here’s a report, from Bruce Finley writing for The Denver Post, about the pipeline plans from Flaming Gorge and the Green River proposed by the Colorado-Wyoming Coalition and the Million Resource Group. From the article:

Colorado municipal water suppliers are in discussions with their Wyoming counterparts exploring the feasibility. Separately, a private entrepreneur’s proposal to build a pipeline is under federal review. Colorado government officials — who have met with both contingents and are talking with Wyoming officials — recently included the “Flaming Gorge concept” among four options for diverting Western Slope water to the Front Range…

Huge hurdles remain, including financing and Colorado’s and Wyoming’s obligations to downriver states under an interstate compact. Conservationists object to the potential environmental impact of withdrawing the water…

The pipeline concept originated with entrepreneur Aaron Million and his Million Conservation Resource Group. In 2008, the group applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which regulates construction in waterways and wetlands. An environmental review has begun, and engineers are sifting through a deluge of public comments, said Rena Brand, regulatory specialist for the agency. “The majority of letters are against it” and “push for the idea of conserving more along the Front Range,” Brand said. Federal wildlife officials are among those questioning possible impacts on endangered species and migratory birds…

Million must provide a list of likely customers by January to establish a need for the pipeline, Brand said. Last week, Million said that “ongoing negotiations with 20-plus” potential customers in Wyoming and Colorado “are going well.” He declined to name them. The project could be done in five years, he said. He wasn’t invited to the municipal suppliers’ discussions at a country club, a slight he calls unfortunate. “The lack of collaboration is problematic. It was the private sector that developed the water in the West” before federal agencies got involved, he said. “This is a return to the historical development of water resources, using the efficiency of the private sector to get things accomplished.”

Meanwhile, the municipal suppliers’ group was to continue discussions in Wyoming this week. They are close to formalizing a coalition, Jaeger said. He declined to name participants.

Colorado’s top natural resources officials say they’ve talked with Million and Jaeger. The state’s emerging strategies for meeting projected demand — which include conservation, the re-use of water and rethinking low-density versus high-density growth — assume that importing some water between river basins will be necessary, said Harris Sherman, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. “Whether it is a public or a private project, it must incorporate public benefits,” Sherman said. “Sometimes it’s easier to incorporate public benefits with a public project, because the sponsoring entity is the public, and it will be focussed on public benefits. But it’s not impossible for a private project to incorporate a wide variety of public benefits. “

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here. Colorado-Wyoming Coalition coverage here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sides with opponents

It’s a good thing the Aaron Million is a young man. He may age a bit before he sees his dream of a pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to the Front Range bear fruit. Here’s a report from the Associated Press via CBS4Denver.com. From the article:

The agency submitted written comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is conducting an environmental study of the proposal. The Fish and Wildlife comments focused concern on how the pipeline would affect threatened or endangered species, migratory birds and habitats and ecosystem balances.

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Flaming gorge pipeline: Does Million Resource Conservation Group have any customers?

Colorado water law includes an anti-speculation doctrine. Here’s a short explanation from a Coyote Gulch reader:

The doctrine basically says water may not be held for future sale. The Colorado Constitution says no water right will be denied, if the water is put to beneficial use. The one exception to this is referred to as the Great and Growing Cities Doctrine (c. 1916) that says cities can appropriate (or purchase water rights in a change case) water for future needs.

An individual or corporation cannot claim or buy water without an immediate or historic beneficial use.

So that is the conundrum that Aaron Million is in: He hasn’t named any customers for the water that he plans to deliver from the Green River so many are pointing the speculator finger at him and his proposed project. He has frightened off some potential customers by also being secretive about the eventual cost of the water.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the process of completing an environmental impact statement for the project but needs to know where the water will be put to beneficial use in order to evaluate the impacts. Million has said that he will provide the names of users in Wyoming and Colorado, “…but is not in a position to provide them yet,” according to this report from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. More from the article:

“I think the Corps is trying to shore up its information and narrow down the focus of the project so it can develop alternatives,” Million said. “Obviously, we’re going to do everything we can to cooperate. The project’s on a positive path.” Rena Brand, regulatory specialist for the Corps, had a similar comment.

“In order to define the need, the Corps must understand who the water users are and verify their specific needs for water,” Brand said. “Water users could be cities, irrigation districts or industries.”[...]

The Colorado Water Conservation Board estimates the state has 440,000-1.4 million acre-feet of water to develop under the [Colorado River Compact and Upper Colorado River Compact], but is investigating things like the location and timing of flows. Million’s project would minimize elevation changes as it bypasses the Colorado Rockies and moves water along existing utility corridors.

There is strong opposition to the project in Wyoming. “I’m not sure they have adequate definition of the need for the project to even do the analysis,” Gov. Dave Freudenthal said last week. “I think this is just a rich guy who just wants to move water.”

Million countered that Freudenthal’s opposition was not expected, and said he is ignoring possible benefits to the state.

There is also interest by others in the state in the concept. The CWCB has included it in a study of possible water supply alternatives, and the South Metro Water Supply Authority has been looking at a similar alternative [Colorado-Wyoming Coalition] in its long-range planning.

More Coyote Gulch Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: Wyoming Governor Freudenthal urges slow going to protect state water supplies

From the Associated Press via LocalNews8.com (Idaho Falls):

Freudenthal submitted written comments Monday to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, urging the agency to carefully scrutinize the proposal by Aaron Million. He wrote that he remains opposed to the project…The Wyoming governor says federal review of the proposal should include potential impacts on wildlife and endangered species.

More Coyote Gulch Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: Wyoming opposition building

There isn’t much new news about Aaron Million’s pipeline but here’s a report about opposition up in the Green River Basin in Wyoming from Kirk Siegler reporting for New West. From the article:

Even around the arid West, a 550 mile water pipeline is not unheard of. But a two to three billion dollar project that’s privately financed would be unprecedented, at least for this region. But Million sees the project as a private-public partnership. He plans to sell the water to growing towns and cities…

That’s something you hear a lot in this part of the state. Downstream, the Green does briefly flow into Colorado. Locals also note that water in this basin is already scarce, and possibly already over-allocated to downstream farmers and cities. A few miles away in Rock Springs, local chamber of commerce director Dave Hanks points to another factor, climate change. Hanks says it’s already rearing its head here. There’s less snow, and less snowpack, the storage mechanism for water in the west. “We will definitely be opposed to this. It’s not no, it’s hell no,” he says…

Million promises to pull the plug on his proposal, if federal regulators conclude it will stress the system, and hurt the environment. But he says the whole reason he’s chosen to go through Wyoming and not the fragile, high mountains of Colorado, is because of the environment. Much of the I-80 corridor is designated for pipelines already. It’s also mostly downhill to the Front Range. Not so in his home state.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

CWCB: How to bridge the water gap

Here’s a recap of the CWCB’s presentation last week to the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District meeting, from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

Conservation, alternative ag transfers and new supply projects will all fit into the equation, but no single plan would meet all the needs, [Eric Hecox of the Colorado Water Conservation Board] said.

In conservation, the state water board is looking at the impacts of conserving 20 to 40 percent of the water used in cities in 2000. The problem has been in establishing a baseline, since most cities have not filed conservation plans with the state. Many cities restricted water use during the drought of 2002 and have continued to see lower per capita water use in the years since. While conservation is not seen as an effective strategy to meet future supply needs, it does reduce the demand side of the equation, Hecox said. The state is looking at several ways to decrease the pain of water transfers for rural communities. The Arkansas Valley Super Ditch, a water marketing concept that keeps water rights in the hands of farmers by combining the resources on seven ditch systems, is in the forefront of these studies.

The CWCB has two separate studies looking at new supplies. One will evaluate water transfer projects from Flaming Gorge, the Yampa River and the Colorado River, as well as pipeline projects within the South Platte basin and from the Arkansas River basin to the South Platte. Hecox was careful to point out that the state is not endorsing any of the concepts, but is simply evaluating them. The IBCC and roundtables also have asked the CWCB to look at smaller projects. Earlier this month, the Arkansas, South Platte and Metro roundtables voted to ask the CWCB to also consider transfers from the Gunnison River basin. “With the smaller projects, you might have to have 10 to compare against one 250,000-acre foot project,” Hecox noted.

The second study, which will be completed in 2010, is looking at the amount of water in the Colorado River basin that is available for Colorado’s use under 1922 and 1948 interstate compacts. Colorado is entitled to develop between 445,000 and 1.4 million acre-feet, explained Randy Seaholm, who has been the CWCB’s point man on the Colorado River for years. While the state could be subject to a compact call from the downstream states – California, Arizona and Nevada – the known hydrology of the Colorado River supports development of the additional water with little risk.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline (Regional Watershed Supply Project): Wyoming commenters still overwhelmingly against the project

From KRDO.com:

Sweetwater County residents and local municipal officials emphasized once again to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that they believe the privately funded water diversion project will have no real benefits for southwest Wyoming. About 80 area residents attended the second, added Army Corps scoping meeting on the proposed pipeline project Tuesday night in Rock Springs. That was less than the 300 who showed up for the first meeting in April in the county, but their opposition was just as strident. Residents said diverting the water could hurt local industry, could curtail future growth and could threaten a world-class fishery.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

Wyoming: Cowboy State look at the Flaming Gorge pipeline (Regional Watershed Supply Project)

Here’s a long report about the pipeline project, from Derek Farr writing for the Sublette Examiner. From the article:

In a house editorial by the Denver Post, the newspaper concluded RWSP was “an innovative notion that might bring a cease-fire in our water wars.” In other words, under the RWSP Colorado’s east slope can develop west-slope water without rankling western water users. For Colorado, that’s due to some fortuitous geography.

The Green River starts deep in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains before meandering 180 miles south and entering Utah at Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Below the Flaming Gorge dam, the river takes a left turn and loops through Colorado for 41 miles. Because the Green eventually flows into the Colorado River, the state of Colorado has a right to its water no matter how briefly the two coalesce. And because the Green’s sojourn into Colorado takes it through the remote regions of Browns Park and Dinosaur National Monument, few western Colorado water users are directly affected by a diversion. As western Colorado resistance has cooled, RWSP is garnering support in parts of eastern Wyoming. That’s because RWSP promises the City of Laramie 25,000 af of water. That’s not the state’s only internal division over the project. Gov. Freudenthal’s brother Steve Freudenthal, a Cheyenne lawyer, is helping develop the RWSP.

The prospect of being isolated between pro-RWSP Wyoming communities and impassive western Colorado water users has Sweetwater County Commissioner Paula Wonnacott concerned. She worries that the state’s voice will fracture over 25,000 af of water.
“They may see it as a boon for them,” she said. “But at the same time in southwest Wyoming were we have industry and create tax revenue for the state, we want to make sure that we have access to our water resources and we don’t want to do something to hinder those opportunities in the future.”

Accordingly, officials from Sweetwater County, Green River and Rock Springs are building a coalition against RWSP and opening dialog with the rest of the state. “I would really hate to not be able to engage the other elected groups in the eastern part of the state,” Wonnacott said. “We want to make sure we’re working with one voice.”

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: Wyoming Water Development director says many opposed to the project do not understand that it will be Colorado water under the Colorado River Compact

From the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Bill McCarthy):

“There was a lot of hysteria and bad information,” Mike Purcell told a joint meeting of the Water Development Commission and the Legislature’s Select Committee on Water Development…

Purcell told the two boards that there likely will be people at today’s meeting who want to be heard on the issue. The Water Development Commission and the Legislature’s Select Committee on Water Development meet again at 8:30 a.m. today. “We like Colorado water flowing through our state” because it adds to things such as recreational activities and wildlife habitat, he said. But Colorado could call for the water it is entitled to under the seven-state compact.

The Army Corps of Engineers will host a public meeting Tuesday in Rock Springs about the proposal…Army Corps officials also extended the written public comment period for an environmental impact statement through July 27. The environmental study is expected to take at least three years.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

Flaming Gorge Pipeline: Scoping session in Rock Springs June 9

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled another scoping session in Rock Springs, Wyoming for the Regional Watershed Supply Project. Here’s a report from Jeff Gearino writing for the Casper Star-Tribune. From the article:

Southwest Wyoming residents will get another chance to voice their concerns — or support — for Colorado entrepreneur Aaron Million’s controversial project to divert water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir to the Front Range around Denver, federal officials said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Tuesday a second meeting for Sweetwater County residents next month on Million’s proposed Regional Watershed Supply Project. Army Corps project manager Rena Brand said the agency will host the second public scoping meeting on the transbasin diversion project June 9 in Rock Springs…

A hostile crowd of around 300 people greeted Million and Army Corps officials at the first public scoping meeting April 14 in Green River. The handful of area residents who were allowed to speak at the meeting overwhelmingly opposed the unique, privately funded water diversion project. Residents said diverting much-needed water from the reservoir could hurt local industry, could curtail future growth in Green River and Rock Springs, would threaten a world-class fishery and would have no real benefits for southwest Wyoming.

But some officials attending the Laramie meeting said they would welcome the approximately 25,000 acre-feet of water that would be delivered annually to southeast Wyoming users in the Platte River Basin under Million’s pipeline proposal.

At a city workshop May 12, Green River, Rock Springs, Sweetwater County and other municipal officials agreed to form a coalition — and perhaps hire a public relations firm — to fight Million’s pipeline proposal. Officials decided the best way to oppose the project was to present some sort of “united front” that would include an aggressive, proactive campaign against the project. Officials also decided to press the Army Corps for another meeting in Sweetwater County and said they would consider litigation if necessary to try and kill the project.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority: Suite of potential water supply options to choose from

The Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority is discussing their options for a sustainable water supply. They could be customers of any number of projects including, the Super Ditch Companay, a Flaming Gorge Pipeline(either Aaron Million’s or the Colorado-Wyoming Coalition) or Colorado Springs’ proposed Southern Delivery System. Here’s a report from Nicole Chillino writing for The Tri-Lakes Tribune. From the article:

The Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority continued discussions about its options for a future water source and it appears it will be a while before it can determine what its best course will be…Regardless of which project or projects the authority ultimately chooses, it will need to find a place to store the water. The authority has a few options, including the Pueblo Reservoir, but no storage location has been finalized.

Flaming Gorge Pipeline: Green River and Rock Springs join opposition

From the Associated Press via the Aspen Times:

The two largest cities in Sweetwater County are organizing to fight two proposed projects that would divert water from the Green River Basin to the Colorado Front Range. They’ve agreed to form a coalition and possibly hire a public relations firm to challenge the proposals, which include construction of a 560-mile pipeline [Regional Watershed Supply Project] from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to Denver. The projects are a “big elephant facing us,” Green River Mayor Hank Castillon said in giving his support to the new coalition Wednesday. “This is a complex and unique struggle we’re in,” he said.

Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo lent his support. “I don’t think we can wait any longer,” Kaumo said. “We need to stick together and see just how successful we can be.”[...]

Also in the works is a less-publicized proposal to divert water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to the Parker Water and Sanitation District near Denver. [ed. actually the Colorado-Wyoming Coalition pipeline includes many South Metro water providers not just Parker Water and Sanitation.]

Bill Sniffin, head of the public relations and marketing firm Wyoming Inc., made a pitch to lead a marketing effort against the pipeline projects. The Lander-based company provides marketing, research and public relations services. Sniffin estimated it would cost between $75,000 and $150,000 for his firm to carry the coalition’s fight against the pipeline projects for the first year.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

South Platte, Metro, Arkansas Roundtables: Looking for solutions to the Front Range water supply gap

Here’s a recap of Wednesday’s combined meeting of the South Platte, Metro and Arkansas roundtables, from Chris Woodka writing for the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

“We’re looking at different scenarios, not just one water future for Colorado,” said Eric Hecox, Interbasin Compact Committee coordinator for the Colorado Water Conservation Board…

Comments to staff from Wednesday’s meeting will help shape the final plan, which will be discussed by the CWCB at a workshop Monday in Pueblo. The meeting will be from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Pueblo Convention Center. The CWCB will have its bi-monthly meeting at the Convention Center Tuesday and Wednesday…

Colorado now is looking at urban conservation strategies like turf replacement, rate structures, leak detection, landscape audits and appliance efficiency as a way to reduce per capita use. The CWCB also is looking at new ways of making agricultural water transfers less damaging to rural economies through grants to water lease-fallowing efforts such as the Super Ditch in the Arkansas Valley. The final leg of the program is to identify how much water Colorado could claim from the Colorado River. The state launched a basin-by-basin study on the Western Slope to determine how much water could be taken while still meeting Colorado’s obligation to downstream states under the 1922 Colorado River Compact. The state also is working to identify which project or projects should be built if the water is moved to the Front Range. There is no consensus among the state’s nine basin roundtables about which project would best fill the need.

Arkansas, Metro and South Platte roundtables combined meeting: Conserved consumptive use?

At a recent combined roundtable meeting Jennifer Gimbel — Director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board — poured a little cold water on the idea of a pipeline from Flaming Gorge (either Aaron Million’s or the Colorado-Wyoming Coalition) as the “silver bullet” that would solve Front Range water needs without drying up agriculture. Here’s a report from Chris Woodka writing for the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

“I don’t believe a project from Flaming Gorge to bring in 250,000 acre-feet is going to cut it. It’s going to take a combination of proposals,” Jennifer Gimbel, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, told a meeting of Front Range water interests Wednesday. “There’s no silver bullet.”

The meeting combined state basin roundtables for the Arkansas River, South Platte River and Denver Metro areas. It was the second time the three groups have met jointly. In 2007, the roundtables learned about potential strategies. This time, the objective was to put “meat on the bones” of those plans, said Alex Davis of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

Gimbel’s statement drew immediate fire from Rod Kuharich, chairman of the Metro Roundtable. Kuharich is director of the South Metro Water Supply Authority, which is looking at a Flaming Gorge Project similar to an idea first proposed by Aaron Million. Up until 2007, he was the CWCB director as well. “I am real disappointed to see a large project dismissed carte blanche, regardless of who does it,” Kuharich said, adding that other projects like Blue Mesa pumpback should be examined as well. Kuharich said conservation and lease-fallowing options also discussed at Wednesday’s meeting are only partial strategies that do not give municipal water suppliers certainty. Conservation should not be relied on to provide water for future growth, because the sources of water will dry up, Kuharich said. He described the terms of lease-fallowing programs, such as Super Ditch in the Arkansas Valley, as “draconian.”

“How are you so sure it’s draconian when you twice failed to respond to an invitation to meet with Super Ditch?” said Peter Nichols, who is a Metro roundtable member and attorney for the Super Ditch…

“Conservation alone is not the answer,” [Keith Yahn, Sterling farmer and water manager who chairs the South Platte Roundtable] said. “It appears agriculture is going to bear the brunt of the state’s water gap. That water is reused six or seven times by the time it reaches the state line.” Don Shawcroft, president of the Colorado Agriculture Water Users Alliance, echoed that concern. “We’re concerned about the public’s perception of agriculture’s needs,” Shawcroft said. “What are the economic incentives to conserve water?”

The alliance is arguing for a new category of water in Colorado’s hierarchy, called conserved consumptive use, that would allow farmers to market water.

Flaming Gorge Pipeline: Corps of Engineers announce more scoping sessions

From the Associated Press via Fort Collins Now:

The Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled two more public meetings in Colorado on a businessman’s plan to pipe water from southwest Wyoming to Colorado’s populous Front Range. The meetings June 10 in Craig and June 11 in Grand Junction will take public comments on what an environmental study of the proposal should address. Six similar meetings were held last month in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. The period to comment on the scope of the environmental study of the project has been extended to July 27.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

Too many Colorado water projects?

Does Colorado have too many water projects in the works? Is there enough water left in the rivers to satisfy requirements? Will agriculture survive municipal growth? These are among the questions that some are asking. While water development is largely a bottom-up process — someone files for a decree on a stream and gets a priority or a group buys water from a willing seller — there is little top-down coordination of the cumulative effects of the separate projects. In every sense the race goes to the swiftest and the groups with the deepest pockets. Here’s a report from Mark Jaffe writing for the Denver Post. From the article:

…from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs, the projects are moving forward, powered, attorneys and water managers say, by Colorado water law’s first-come-first-served principle. “In water law, it is still the Wild West,” said Sarah Klahn, a water attorney and University of Denver law professor. “You can be a dreamer, and if you make it come true, it’s yours.”

The concentration of projects worries federal officials who are left to sort out the multiple impacts. “It is the combined projects’ effect on water quality that concerns us,” said Larry Svoboda, environmental assessment director in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Denver office…

Among the plans moving forward are:

• Projects by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and the cities of Fort Collins and Greeley on the same reach of the Cache La Poudre River.

• Denver Water and Northern Colorado Water both are developing projects on the Colorado River and tributaries in Grand County.

• Aurora Water and East Cherry Creek Valley Water and [Sanitation] District both have projects with 30-mile- long water pipelines running to the Brighton area. In some cases the lines are just a few hundred yards apart…

And even with all these projects, by 2030 the region may be short by 29 billion gallons, according to state projections. In this atmosphere everyone is guarding their own interests, said Dave Little, Denver Water’s planning director. “Everyone can agree on the need, but as soon as you try to identify a project, the parochial interests kick in,” Little said.

Still, as opportunities for water projects dwindle and costs rise, communities are cooperating more, said Eric Wilkinson, Northern Colorado Water’s general manager. For example, Denver Water, Aurora Water and South Metro Water Supply Authority are exploring the possibility of a joint project, said South Metro executive director Rod Kuharich.

Rights and projects are decided on a case-by-case basis in the state water courts and seniority rules. Unlike some other states, in Colorado the legislature and the administrative agencies have no role. It is all settled in water court, Klahn said.

“We don’t have a water plan; prior appropriation is our plan and it’s every man for himself,” said Melissa Kassen, a director of Trout Unlimited’s Western Water project.

Since 2005, through the Intrabasin Compact Committee and nine basin roundtables, the state has tried to do more water planning and forge voluntary agreements. “It is an experiment,” said Harris Sherman, director of the state Department of Natural Resources…

Critics argue that this is still a piecemeal approach as the federal agencies do not set priorities on projects or assess overall water needs. “As we get closer to appropriating the water that’s left in Colorado, we really ought to be able to set priorities,” Trout Unlimited’s Kassen said.

Until there is change, prior appropriation rules. “The state has been reluctant to support one project over another,” said the Department of Natural Resources’ Sherman. “As we enter water scarcity, that may change.”

More Coyote Gulch coverage here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.