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Colorado’s Looming Water Shortage Requires Leadership & Action
Every driver hears unwelcome sounds from their car’s engine from time-to-time. We all have a choice – address the problem - or turn up the radio and hope for the best.
That’s the exact choice Colorado is facing on water: dig into the difficult decisions to ensure water security, or hope the status quo can keep agriculture, industry, and communities healthy.
The Colorado Sun recently did an extensive review of Colorado’s water policy, which should serve as a cold shower for those who believe the Front Range – or all of our state – can sustain the status quo over the long term.
As anyone who has focused on Colorado’s water issues knows, most precipitation (upwards of 80 percent) falls on the Western Slope, but 90 percent of the population lives on the Front Range.
This is why today the Front Range obtains over 500,000 acre-feet annually through transmountain diversions as it has for decades. Yet, the state has not built new water storage capability, so a significant amount of Colorado’s water flows out of the state year after year.
This is nothing new. What is an emerging problem is the looming, documented water shortage, and how local and state leaders will address it.
Growth in the Front Range continues at breakneck pace, which, in turn puts increased stress on existing aquifers. An estimated 60 percent of the state’s annual groundwater usage comes from non-renewable aquifers, including the Denver aquifer.
The recently revised Colorado Water Plan is a flashing warning light for our water future.
Current projections show the continuing rise in demand – will exceed water supplies within the next 25 to 30 years. The plan, in just its focus on municipal and industrial use (separate from agriculture) projects a shortage from 230,000 acre-feet on the low end to 740,000 acre-feet on the high end.
As the Colorado Sun piece pointed out, “That’s a potential shortage that could equal, or surpass all current and municipal water use.”
These facts continue to be consistently highlighted. Colorado, and local communities, need an action agenda to address what is clearly an urgent – but eminently fixable – statewide challenge.
Recent Headlines
Colorado faces a water-stressed future. Here’s how the state uses its existing supply.
...After two decades of near-constant drought, Colorado’s water supply is stressed. And there’s not much relief in sight.
Colorado’s cities, industries and farms could face more severe water shortages by 2050, depending on how the state responds to key factors such as warming temperatures, uncertain rainfall and a growing population. Instability in the Colorado River Basin — which provides 40% of Colorado’s water — is just adding to the pressure.
…This is a key dynamic. Water managers rely on a network of pumps, reservoirs, tunnels and ditches to store and move water around the state. Cities and towns short on water have looked to the Western Slope as a potential source, which has long been the crux of simmering west-east conflicts over water in Colorado. The Front Range takes over 500,000 acre-feet annually from transmountain diversions.
…Groundwater aquifers can be an uncertain water source: They can have water quality issues, and their water storage capacity can fall over time as long-term pumping causes the earth to become more compact. When people are pumping water out of the aquifer faster than it recharges naturally, it’s considered a nonrenewable resource. About 60% of Colorado’s annual groundwater use comes from nonrenewable aquifers.
A Colorado City Has Been Battling for Decades to Use Its Own Water
...Across the country, tensions over water are mounting as climate change, drought and development strain an increasingly scarce natural resource. The aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s drinking water are being severely depleted. Housing and other uses like agriculture are draining finite supplies of groundwater. And counties and cities are being forced to hunt for new sources of water, setting up clashes between neighboring communities.
…Maiker Housing Partners, a real estate developer, has suspended its plans to erect hundreds of units of affordable housing near a newly opened commuter rail station in Thornton.
“Thornton staff has informed Maiker that no new residential projects will be able to start construction until the water issue is fully resolved,” Peter LiFari, Maiker’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Colorado does not have enough water. Colorado’s water demand is projected to outpace its supply by 2050. Thankfully Douglas County, for the first time ever, is establishing a Water Commission - thanks to the hard work of Commissioners George Teal and Abe Laydon.
Upcoming News from DCFF
Every other week, DCFF will report on important news and challenges impacting our community. We hope you will stay engaged and connected with us.
