WATER PROTECTION

By DENNIS WEBB

Dennis.Webb@gjsentinel.com

The Colorado River District is leading a coalition in what would be a history-making purchase involving historic water rights that are pivotal to Colorado River flows and water uses in western Colorado.

The district and others in the Western Slope coalition are proposing spending potentially $98.5 million to acquire the rights from Xcel Energy for operation of the Shoshone hydroelectric power plant in Glenwood Canyon. According to the river district, Shoshone holds the most senior major water rights on the river, dating back to the early 1900s and totaling 1,408 cubic feet per second.

In Colorado, the ability to use limited river water is based on the seniority of water rights. When river flows drop below 1,408 cfs the plant puts a “call” on the river, preventing access to water by many junior rights holders above the plant to ensure flows to it. That also keeps more water flowing for recreational purposes such as fishing and whitewater boating, and to benefit the environment.

Because the flows used by the plant return to the river, they continue downstream, along with the benefits they provide, which also include access to the water by junior water rights holders downstream, and improved water quality for communities and water utilities that rely on the river for their supply. The improved water quality results from higher river flows that dilute pollution.

Critically, the water also helps shore up flows in what is called the 15mile reach of the river starting in the Palisade area, which is important habitat for fish federally listed as endangered or threatened.

”Preserving the Shoshone call permanently secures the flow of the Colorado River and the health of that river for our economies and our environment, literally from the headwaters in Grand County all the way down to the border with Utah,”

See WATER, page 18A ➤

A coalition led by the Colorado River District is seeking to purchase the water rights associated with the Shoshone power plant, pictured above, in Glenwood Canyon.

PHOTO COURTESY OF COLORADO RIVER DISTRICT

. Continued from page 1A

said river district General Manager Andy Mueller.

He said addressing the issue of the Shoshone rights “is one of the district’s top priorities and has been for probably at least 80 years.”

The plant produces about 15 megawatts of electricity, enough to provide power to about 15,000 customers. Scott McInnis, formerly a U.S. congressman and Mesa County commissioner who currently represents the county on the river district’s board, said the plant is puny for Xcel, “but the water right is not puny.”

”It’s so dominant of a water right,” he said.

The plant’s age, relatively small size and maintenance requirements long have left Western Slope water officials nervous about the future of the facility and, more importantly, its water rights. For more than 20 years, the river district and 17 other western Colorado governments and water entities —including Summit, Grand, Eagle, Garfield and Mesa counties and many municipalities — have worked to permanently preserve the Shoshone flows. A 2013 Colorado River agreement between Denver Water and 17 West Slope governments and water use organizations memorialized the need to permanently protect the historical river flows created by the plant, and Denver Water agreed to cooperate with western Colorado’s effort to protect the plant and not try to buy the plant itself for the water rights.

Water entities also have an agreement to generally keep river flows the same as they would be when the Shoshone call is in effect even during circumstances such as when the plant has to be shut down for maintenance.

Although Xcel long has said it isn’t interested in selling the plant and its water rights, Mueller said that in perhaps the past 2½ years the utility has been focused on trying to find a mutually beneficial solution to preserve the water rights. While an agreement hasn’t been finalized, under the negotiations, the plan is for the river district to make the water rights available to the plant operator through a permanent lease.

The likely purchase price of $98.5 million is based on several recent appraisals. Despite that considerable price tag, Mueller said he thinks it is a justified expense and with its perpetual benefits “is absolutely worth it.”

As for how to pay for it, the river district proposes covering $20 million of it through its community funding partnership funding program that was made possible by a 2020 property tax increase approved by voters. Mueller said permanently protecting the Shoshone call was listed by the river district as one of the highest priorities for using those tax revenues when the measure was put before voters.

The river district envisions another $10 million coming from other West Slope government and water entities. The district and those entities are talking to the federal Bureau of Reclamation in hopes of obtaining $49 million from the $4 billion in drought mitigation funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Lastly, the river district is hoping to work with the Colorado Water Conservation Board to seek a $20 million appropriation from state lawmakers through the annual CWCB water projects bill, with the money coming from energy severance tax revenues. Mueller said a CWCB committee discussed the matter last month and he anticipates the board will consider it at its Nov. 15 meeting.

The river district’s plan is that eventually, it and the CWCB would apply to state water court to try to get the alternate beneficial purpose of an instream flow added to the Shoshone water rights, to preserve the rights’ priority and ability to call water downstream when the water isn’t being used for power generation. Only after that can be achieved and Xcel obtains any approvals required by the Colorado Public Utility Commission would the water rights sale be closed, something Mueller hopes can occur by the end of 2026.

”It’s a very complex transaction but from our perspective is absolutely worth it,” Mueller said.

One question is the degree to which the purchase effort might be supported or opposed by Front Range water entities, of which Denver Water is just one.

”I think we anticipate working closely with all of our Front Range partners to meet any concerns they have on this transaction. It’s important that it be a transaction that brings us all together,” Mueller said.

He said securing the flows provided by the Shoshone water rights benefits everyone in Colorado, including Front Range water providers because of how it helps support the endangered fish recovery program on the river. That program has allowed for water uses along the river while still working to protect imperiled fish through means including helping protect flows in the 15-mile reach, in order to comply with the Endangered Species Act. Mueller said that program has allowed for Front Range entities to divert water from the river to supply their growing populations.

Said McInnis, “A lot of people are going to rest a lot more comfortably knowing that water right is locked down in location.”

A representative for one Front Range water provider, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, said Thursday that utility had no comment on the proposal.

Matt Rice, Southwest Regions director for the group American Rivers, said he thinks the effort to buy the water rights holds the potential to unify the state behind something that has not just Western Slope but statewide benefits.

”To my understanding there aren’t that many opportunities like this one that allow us to keep water in the river for a multitude of benefits basinwide. It’s tremendously important for the environment and recreation.

” ... I see this as like a transformational project that I think if the work is done to communicate and educate about its benefits, that it can be really a unifier for the state around water.”

James Eklund, a water attorney and former CWCB whose family also has a ranch in the Plateau Valley, said the importance of the Shoshone water right is hard to overstate.

”It’s mission-critical not just for the Grand Valley but for the Western Slope and the state as a whole that right continue to be the calling right on the system,” he said.

But he also voiced some nervousness about possible unintended consequences from changing the owner of such important water rights after more than a century during which it has worked for the rights to be owned by the power plant, and he also wondered how the cost of the deal could personally affect the bills he pays.

McInnis said he thinks that if it is achieved, acquiring the water rights could be the foremost achievement by the river district in its history.

”We don’t have the deal sealed but we’re getting close. It’s a long time coming and if we seal it, it is going to be a big cause for celebration. Even for people who don’t understand water, they should be at the party,” he said.

This historical photo shows the penstocks of the Shoshone power plant above the Colorado River. A coalition led by the Colorado River District is seeking to purchase the water rights associated with the plant.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PHOTO