State Engineer Dick Wolfe was on hand this week to speak to a ditch and reservoir operators workshop hosted by the Colorado Division of Water Resources, according to a report from Bill Jackson writing for the Greeley Tribune. From the article:
Unless new water supplies are found to serve a growing population along the South Platte River, pressure will continue to be put on agriculture to provide water for new residents, a state water official said Monday. Dick Wolfe, the state engineer, also predicted that 123,000 to 230,000 acres of irrigated land along the river could be lost to meet the demands for growth in the next 40 years or less…
While the current economy will certainly slow growth, Wolfe said the state’s population could double by 2050, and 80 percent of that growth is predicted along the Front Range — the South Platte. Wolfe said best estimates currently are that 400,000 acre-feet of water per year will be needed to serve that growth by 2030. An acre-foot is enough water to supply two families for a year…
…new water, such as bringing water to the Front Range from the Green River in Wyoming or the Yampa River in northwest Colorado, won’t be feasible, he said, until it can be proven that all conservation methods have been utilized on available water…
“We’re sometimes referred to as ‘water cops,’ and while we are a regulatory agency, what we try to do is really try to show people how to stay in compliance,” Wolfe said, and that means adhering to Colorado water law.