Colorado River

Western Slope pushes $99M deal for historic Shoshone water rights—Front Range says not so fast

The Colorado Sun, Approved, State / / , , , , ,

Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs and Northern Water voiced opposition Wednesday to the Western Slope’s proposal to spend $99 million to buy historic water rights on the Colorado River from Xcel Energy.

The Colorado River Water Conservation District has been working for years to buy the water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant, a small, easy-to-miss hydropower plant off Interstate 70 east of Glenwood Springs. The highly coveted water rights are some of the largest and oldest on the Colorado River in Colorado.

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Walcher: The “sky is falling” water narrative doesn’t hold water

GregWalcher.com, Approved, National, State / / , , , , ,

Every year for the past 25, at least, negotiating teams for the seven states on the Colorado River have worked to overcome a new crisis, invariably driven by two entities: the State of California and the federal Bureau of Reclamation (BOR).

For a quarter-century, those teams have responded to federal pressure based on the dubious theory that an ongoing drought, and a resulting decline in the river’s flow, somehow changed the law and gave BOR authority to ignore the Interstate Compact.

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CPW releases results of additional testing after invasive species discovery in Colorado River

Approved, Out There Colorado, State / / ,

On Tuesday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced that the agency has concluded samplings effort related to the discovery of zebra mussel veligers in the Colorado River for 2024. Zebra mussels are an invasive species in Colorado and are known to be devastating to aquatic ecosystems and infrastructure.

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Colorado River management proposals receive mixed reactions, with hints of possible legal battle

Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State / /

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s alternative proposals to guide the management of the Colorado River received mixed reactions from key negotiators and officials whose support is crucial in the river’s successful operation in the years to come.

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Colorado River Basin’s largest users look to conservation strategies, while negotiators work on future

Approved, Law Week Colorado, Local / /

While water may cover 71% of the Earth’s surface, it’s frequently been in short supply in Colorado and across the West. As the climate changes and the Colorado River Basin sees dry days ahead, negotiators from the states that share its water and the Native Americans who have used it for centuries are hard at work to create a sustainable framework for the basin’s future. 

Colorado River Basin’s largest users look to conservation strategies, while negotiators work on future Read More »

Invasive, fast-reproducing zebra mussels found in Colorado River near Grand Junction

Approved, State, The Colorado Sun / / ,

Voracious zebra mussels appear to be spreading into the Colorado River near Grand Junction and infesting the Government Highline canal watering Mesa County farms, less than two years after the invasive species first appeared in a Western Slope lake, wildlife officials said Tuesday. 

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