Colorado’s congressional delegation urges feds to support historic Colorado River water deal

Six members of Colorado’s congressional delegation, including Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, have come out in support of a $99 million effort to secure historic Colorado River water rights, a move that would provide environmental benefits and protect Western Slope users from any potential future sale.

Western Slope water agencies, including the Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River District, and the state have committed $56 million to purchase the water from Xcel Energy, which uses the water to operate its Shoshone hydropower plant in Glenwood Canyon. 

Colorado River District Manager Andy Mueller could not immediately be reached for comment, but in a statement, he said he was grateful for the political shoutout from the senators, as well as Democratic Reps. Jason Crow, Joe Neguse, Brittany Pettersen and Diana DeGette.

This Fresh Water News story is a collaboration between The Colorado Sun and Water Education Colorado. It also appears at wateredco.org/fresh-water-news.

“Their support highlights the broad-reaching commitment to safeguarding water that brings significant benefit to the Colorado River during its driest times and will help to ensure multi-generational water security for millions of Coloradans,” Mueller wrote.

Securing federal funding is a key step in the process. In a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Monday, the representatives expressed their support for spending $40 million from the federal Inflation Reduction Act to help complete the transaction. River district spokeswoman Lindsay DeFrates said another $3 million will still be needed, assuming the federal funding comes through. The district plans to apply for the funds next month.

The congressional delegates cited the broad-based local financial commitments as evidence of the deal’s importance.

“This strong show of funding reflects the local recognition of the Shoshone Water Rights’ importance to the health of western Colorado’s environment and local economies. We recognize the Shoshone Permanency Project’s complex nature and ongoing technical review, but believe the opportunity to protect historical Colorado River flows deserves your attention. We encourage you to give the River District’s proposal your full and fair consideration,” they wrote.

Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a Democrat from the Front Range, was not on the letter, neither were Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn, Greg Lopez and Lauren Boebert, who currently represents the 3rd Congressional District which includes the stretch of the river where Shoshone is located.

The letter comes roughly one year after news of a draft purchase agreement between Xcel and the Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River District became public.

And it arrives just weeks after Northern Water, one of the largest Front Range users of Colorado River water, raised concerns about the project. Northern and other large utilities, including Denver Water and Pueblo Water, rely on the Colorado River for large portions of their water supplies, which are piped from the Western Slope to local reservoirs. Those supplies could be affected if the flows in the river change as a result of the purchase and operation of the power plant.

In a statement, Northern Water spokesman Jeff Stahla did not comment on the new show of support from the congressional delegation, saying only that his agency appreciated the concern over maintaining the historic flows in the river.

Mueller, the Colorado River District manager, and others have said repeatedly that there is no plan to alter the timing and management of the flows in that segment of the river. The river district plans to lease the water back to Xcel for continued use at the power plant while seeking to establish a separate environmental water right that would allow the water to stay in the river if the power plant is shut down for maintenance or repair.

Last week, a bipartisan group of Colorado lawmakers also came out in support of the purchase.

Still the magnitude of the transaction has generated intense scrutiny. According to Colorado River District documents, the water right generates anywhere from 41,000 to 86,000 acre-feet of water in a dry year. An acre-foot equals nearly 326,000 gallons, enough to supply two to three households for a year. For comparison, Cheesman Reservoir, a Denver Water reservoir 50 miles southwest of the metro area, holds 79,000 acre-feet.

Western Slope water interests have been trying for decades to find a way to purchase or at least control the Shoshone plant water right because if another electric company or water utility won control of the water right, it could threaten the security of Western Slope water supplies.

But until last year Xcel had refused to consider a sale.