Coloradans Overwhelmingly Support Shoshone Water Rights Purchase

By Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun

The water rights are tied to the Shoshone Power Plant, which is tucked into Glenwood Canyon a few miles east of Glenwood Springs.

Western Slope communities and water agencies want to be able to use powerful Colorado River water rights tied to the Shoshone Power Plant to help the environment. Over 170 members of the public weighed in on the process — and all but one said they liked the idea.

The Colorado Water Conservation Board, a state water agency, gathered the public comments in preparation for a hearing about whether to incorporate the water rights into the state’s Instream Flow Program. The program aims to keep water in rivers to help aquatic and riparian ecosystems.

The proposed change is part of a larger plan on the Western Slope to permanently maintain the historic flows around Shoshone. Doing so would benefit ecosystems near the power plant, endangered fish in downstream and local economies, supporters say. Some Front Range water providers and managers have voiced concerns, saying the plan could hurt their water supplies. 

If the state says no to the proposal, it would scuttle the agreement forcing the Western Slope back to square one.

The public, it seems, is siding with the Western Slope, at least as of Aug. 5. The state water agency is still accepting comments until a hearing during the CWCB meeting Sept. 16-18. 

“I am a fishing guide who relies on my guide income to support myself, my wife and our brand new daughter,” Granby resident Ross Kalsow wrote in an email to the state water agency. “It is my sincere hope that you all will support this. My livelihood and my community relies on it.”

Shoshone Power Plant is tucked into Glenwood Canyon by Interstate 70 a few miles east of Glenwood Springs. The plant’s water rights allow it to take water out of the river, send it through hydropower turbines, and spit it back into the river about 2.4 miles downstream.

The rights, owned by Public Service Company of Colorado, a subsidiary of Xcel, are some of the most powerful on the Colorado River in Colorado in part because of their size, age, location and nonconsumptive use of water. The Colorado River District, which represents 15 Western Slope counties, made a deal with Xcel to buy the rights for $99 million as long as certain requirements are met.

One of those requirements is adding the ability to use the water for environmental benefits, which requires approval by the state through its Instream Flow Program, then water court, which manages the legal process to change water rights.

The state is in the midst of its multistep process to approve or deny the environmental use, which will end when the water conservation board members make their final decision during the September hearing. 

People are eager to weigh in: They’ve filed about 4,500 pages of documents to make their arguments.

Over 40 organizations filed requests to be part of the hearing, including environmental groups, water-based recreation companies, water utilities, irrigation districts and local governments. Most of these organizations supported incorporating Shoshone’s water rights into the Instream Flow Program. 

Several had a “yes, but” vote of support, including Front Range water providers like Denver Water, Homestake Partners and South Metro WISE. They want to make sure past agreements are honored and their water supplies are not diminished by changes to Shoshone’s rights. 

The city of Aurora and Northern Water opposed the Western Slope’s proposal, calling for more time to discuss or modify it to ensure the environmental use won’t impact their water supplies by pulling more water west than in past decades.

Colorado Water Conservation Board staff also supported the change in their official recommendation. They suggested accepting the power plant’s two water rights into the Instream Flow Program with the amount of water required to preserve and improve the natural environment.

What do the people say?

Most of the 170 public comments — about 120 — came from Coloradans. Of those, about 70% said they lived on the Western Slope. They represented nearly 30 cities or counties from Granby to Grand Junction, and Steamboat Springs to Durango. 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE COLORADO SUN