From the Cortez Journal (Joe Hanel):
The $36 million idea would give the state up to 10,460 acre-feet in the reservoir, which it could then sell or lease to other water districts. The state could also keep the water as a hedge against a future legal demand from downstream states, said Jennifer Gimbel, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee unanimously accepted the idea as an amendment to House Bill 1250, the annual bill that authorizes water projects. The amendment gives the CWCB the power to buy into Animas-La Plata if it decides the move would make sense. “We want to make sure we have legitimate reasons before buying the water,” Gimbel said…
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which built the dam, is willing to sell the water to the state in return for a share of the construction costs. The price works out to less than $3,400 an acre-foot. The Legislature has authorized projects for six times the cost per acre-foot, Whitehead said.
The CWCB is waiting on the results of a market study to see what it could do with the water. “What it’s worth is probably a lot more than what it costs,” Gimbel said.
From the Associated Press via the Sky-Hi Daily News:
Lawmakers gave intial approval to a plan for the state to buy up to 10,460 acre feet of water for $36 million from the Animas-La Plata project. The plan given the intial approval Thursday now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
More Animas River watershed coverage here.