CO Water Plan a win for fish, rivers

By Randy Scholfield

Take a good look at this picture--it's the future of water planning in the West. Today in downtown Denver, an array of water users--representing utilities, communities, agriculture groups, industry, conservation groups, water districts, West Slope, East Slope--stood together in the same room to celebrate the completion of a Colorado Water Plan, which provides a roadmap on how the state can best use water to meet future growth while protecting a finite and precious resource--water. 

As James Eklund, executive director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board said, "Water policy is not rocket science--it's harder and more volatile."

Yet the many and diverse water stakeholders--including Trout Unlimited, whose volunteers and staff have been deeply involved in the process--stuck with it, through countless meetings and thousands of public comments, to produce a grand vision of how water users can cooperate to use our water more efficiently and wisely.

“Instead of fighting over a dwindling resource, with winners and losers, Coloradans should work together to find solutions that meet all of our diverse needs, from agriculture and industry to recreation and the environment. Collaboration is key,” said Drew Peternell, director of TU’s Colorado Water Project, in a TU release. 

Notably, the plan offer some strong ideas to help preserve and sustain healthy rivers, including an emphasis on irrigation modernization (which will help make operations more efficient, saving water for stream flows), creating stream management plans to determine the best ways to allocate water to diverse needs, and a framework for evaluating the economic and environmental impacts of transmountain diversions, which have the potential to dry up and devastate rivers and fisheries. 

The plan's not perfect, but TU believes it's a strong start. 

Most important, the plan recognized that Coloradans of all backgrounds care about their world-class trout rivers and outdoor opportunities and want to see them preserved. “We’re pleased that the Colorado Water Plan recognizes that healthy rivers are central to Colorado’s quality of life and help drive our booming, $13 billion recreation economy,” said David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited, in the TU release. “If we want a future of Gold Medal trout rivers and outdoor opportunities, we need to plan for that future—and this plan is a step in the right direction.”

Randy Scholfield is TU's communications director for the Southwest region.