Conservation board members voice support for Shoshone deal

By DENNIS WEBB

Dennis.Webb@gjsentinel.com

Some Colorado Water Conservation Board members on Thursday voiced preliminary support for the Colorado River District’s proposed purchase of Xcel Energy’s Shoshone power plant water rights ahead of the board’s scheduled decision on Monday on whether to endorse contributing $20 million toward making the purchase happen.

“Let’s finish this off in a great way,” board member Paul Bruchez, who represents the Colorado River mainstem on the board, said at a board work session on the Shoshone proposal. He called it a “pretty monumental moment for the state of Colorado with a partnership and an acquisition of this magnitude.”

The river district and Xcel last month signed an agreement for the $99 million purchase of the historic water rights for the Glenwood Canyon power plant, which due to their seniority go far in controlling flows on the river. The district hopes to buy a water right to flows of 1,250 cubic feet per second that dates back to 1902, along with a second, 158cfs right that was appropriated in 1929.

Because of their seniority and year-round nature, the water rights help assure certain levels of flows into Glenwood Canyon at times when owners of upstream junior water rights otherwise might divert the water for other uses, including for use by Front Range cities. The non-consumptive rights associated with the plant also mean the water continues downstream, where it’s available to other users and also maintains flows important to protecting imperiled fish.

The river district has committed $20 million to buying the water rights, is counting on West Slope entities to contribute another $10 million combined and plans to seek $49 million from the federal government. That leaves $20 million that it is asking the CWCB to ask the state legislature to appropriate.

“I’m not opposed to this, I want that clear,” CWCB board member Nathan Coombs said Thursday, but he voiced discomfort at the overall price tag and $20 million cost in state money, and worried whether it could provide a precedent that would drive up what it costs others to buy water rights.

“I totally agree with what we’re trying to do here. I understand the concept but it is in the back of my mind what this sets as a standard for cost,” he said.

River district General Manager Andy Mueller told the board that the rights are unique in that they don’t require an alternate purchaser of the right for the benefits of them to go away. He said the river district worries that something like rockfall in the canyon could lead to the plant no longer operating and the rights being lost that way.

He also pointed to appraisals and valuations done by Xcel and the river district, and what the federal government has been paying for water conservation purposes in the Colorado River Basin, in arguing that the Shoshone deal isn’t setting the market price but is following the price the market is setting.

“We think there is a real justification for this value,” he said.

CWCB board member Barbara Vasquez voiced hope that the Shoshone undertaking might serve as a model for water rights used for other hydropower plants, or used by other power plants for cooling, being used at least in part for environmental flows. Coal-fired plants that have shut down or face shutdowns can have water rights associated with them.

“So I’m really quite excited about the success of this project as we are looking in our energy transition to moving more and more to renewables,” she said.

Frances Folin, an attorney for Xcel, told the board Thursday, “We’re happy that it seems like you’re going to appropriate the funds to the river district. So, good to know, in advance of the meeting next week.”

Greg Felt, the board chair, said the decision won’t be made until Monday.

But he added, “I would say for myself that this is a really monumental moment for the Colorado River, and (Xcel) didn’t have to do this, and so across the state I think people do appreciate that this is even on the table because you can just imagine other pathways this could go ... and so it’s appreciated.”

The water rights purchase agreement also is conditioned on factors including the river district negotiating an instream flow agreement with the CWCB authorizing that board to use the water for instream purposes when the plant isn’t operating. While some of Thursday’s discussion focused on that subject, that agreement is still being discussed and isn’t scheduled for final action by the CWCB on Monday.

After buying the water rights, the river district would lease the water to Xcel for $10 a year for as long at the plant operated. The instream flow rights would ensure the continued flow of water under the rights at times when the plant is temporarily shut down and after its permanent shutdown if that ever occurs.