You are receiving this newsletter because you are a recognized Douglas County community leader and stakeholder.
As County leaders, we must protect our region. Our quality of life is directly connected to our commitment to build a tomorrow that preserves the best of today. This vision includes protecting our natural resources, utilizing our county’s resources in a fiscally-smart manner, and wisely planning for our future. Thank you for standing with us.
Water in 2024: Embrace Reality or Avoid It?
When you hear a loud banging noise in your car, you have two choices; you can take the car in and get it fixed – or you can turn up the radio.
The same is true when it comes to addressing Colorado’s water policy.
That fact that Colorado and our Front Range communities, including Douglas County, have had water proverbial “warning lights” flashing for years is not news.
The combination of natural challenges - including drought, booming population growth, and a dramatic over-reliance on the dwindling, non-replenishing Denver Basin aquifer - have been discussed in detail among respected water experts and in the press for years.
An example of a state moving aggressively to secure water is Nebraska, which is moving forward with building canals off the Platte River in Northeastern Colorado. This is allowed under the South Platte River Compact, which both Nebraska and Colorado signed in 1923.
The plan is for Nebraska to divert up to 115,000 acre-feet of water annually, that’s over double what Douglas County uses annually.
This will put even more pressure on the South Platte River, which is already the most over-appropriated river in the West.
Worst yet, there is not much the state of Colorado can do to prevent it. As the Colorado Sun reported, it’s Colorado’s obligation to deliver.
Imagine if Colorado leaders had been this aggressive even twenty or ten years ago.
The current messengers of the water status quo should take a lesson from the late economist Rudi Dornbusch who famously said that a crisis, “takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you would have thought.”
As a result, he said, “you can be wrong twice.”
The goal for Douglas County is to avoid being wrong on water even once.
Recent Headlines
Colorado pledges to play nice as Nebraska plows ahead on $628M canal at the state line
Nebraska is moving quickly to build a major canal that will take water from the drought-strapped South Platte River on Colorado’s northeastern plains, and deliver it to new storage reservoirs in western Nebraska.
…On the high prairie around Sterling and Julesberg, the solitude and silence mask a complicated water arena, with cities such as Parker and Castle Rock planning major projects themselves, and large- and small-scale cattle and corn producers watching every drop that flows.
…Still, Colorado water regulators say they will carefully monitor the project and plan to meet regularly with Nebraska’s team.
“There are issues,” said Kevin Rein, the former director of Colorado’s Division of Water Resources who retired in December. “The canal’s location and the route it would follow is important. But more substantively, we want to ensure that the placement of the headgate [diversion structure] and the canal don’t create a burden on Colorado and its water users.”
Nebraska begins buying Colorado land for Perkins County Canal
Nebraska has set aside $628 million for the canal project, which is still being designed, and officials said last month they planned to begin land purchases this year.
Colorado officials have acknowledged Nebraska’s right to build the canal, but have insisted the state will have to comply strictly with the terms of the interstate compact, without elaborating on what that means.
Poudre River defenders sue to block Army permit for controversial $2 billion northern Colorado dams
Poudre River defenders sought to throw another wrench in the long-delayed $2 billion Northern Water plan for two reservoirs and extensive water pipelines, asking a federal judge in Denver to reject a key Army Corps of Engineers permit for the project.
The lawsuit by Save the Poudre alleges the Army Corps’ approval of Northern Water’s Northern Integrated Supply Project violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act, because it relies on an outdated environmental impact statement and failed to consider alternatives less damaging to river ecology.
… Northern Water began the permitting process for NISP in 2004 and received the Army Corps’ so-called “404” greenlight in late 2022.
Did you know? The longer water projects are delayed and stymied, the cost of water goes up. A Northern Colorado project is a recent example. The Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP), which was proposed 20 years ago at a cost of $143.9 million, is now projected to cost $2.25 billion.
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.
