(published 12/12/12) In January, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) will release the findings of its Flaming Gorge pipeline task force, convened early this year to study a project that’s divided the water community throughout the Colorado River Basin. Supported by users in Colorado with an acute need for water, the pipeline is opposed by […]
(originally published 2/10/2012) Colorado is well-served by a cadre of water officials, many of whom gathered late last month at the annual Colorado Water Congress convention in what’s being called the “Year of Water,” or Colorado Water 2012. No doubt many will use the designation to bring attention to the considerable challenges that lie ahead […]
(originally published 2012) Ninety years old this year, the Colorado River Compact is more relevant and consequential than any time in its history. That says a lot. Sharing water within its collaborative, progressive framework, the Southwest blossomed, and its sustained influence on our current water dialogue is immeasurable. Indeed it’s more than an interstate agreement. […]
Last week, the Colorado Water Conservation Board hosted a conference to discuss the impacts of drought and how water providers can adapt to meet demand in light of diminishing supplies. It’s not an easy chore. Drought is stressing an already nervous water ecosystem. The conference was another example of how western states are trying to […]
Business leaders attending the ColoradoBiz/UMB Financial Top Company awards retreat in Napa, Calif., lamented a lack of qualified workers to fill openings but expressed “cautious optimism” in discussing Colorado’s economic prospects in 2013. Executives from 11 Top Company winners attended the annual event. Against a backdrop of improving national economic news including gains in home […]
Have water planners in the Colorado River Basin states anticipated a winter with as much anxiety as 2012-13? It would be hard to imagine. As sanguine as they’ve been this beautiful Western fall about the forthcoming snow pack, hope gives way to expectations in November. In Colorado, a foot of weekend snow helped, but without […]
One measure of the high anxiety around water in the West is the hyper-interest in the Nov. 30 release of the final phase of Bureau of Reclamation’s Colorado River study. This phase promises to be the most interesting, approachable part of the study, focusing on a long list of proposals submitted by the public to […]
Much of the initial reaction to last week’s release of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Colorado River study had been heard before, owing to a prior release of data. Headlines focused on the study’s earlier forecast of a 3.2 million acre-feet shortfall throughout the Colorado River Basin in the coming decades, and prepared remarks from water […]
Yesterday, the Basin Roundtable Project Exploration Committee – the Flaming Gorge task force – released the results of its year-long evaluation of a proposed 500-mile pipeline to deliver water from western Wyoming to Colorado’s Front Range. The Colorado Water Conservation Board funded the study to take a close look at Flaming Gorge, an idea that’s […]
Early this year, after agreement on the fiscal ‘cliff’ deal was reached, the Washington Post published this fascinating chart depicting the various proposals from Speaker of the House Boehner and President Obama. While the chart likely won’t change minds, it may very well betray where a deal might be reached in the coming weeks. President […]