From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
State agencies often throw obstacles to moving water projects because of conflicting missions, legal restrictions and narrow interpretations of their purpose, a subcommittee of the Interbasin Compact Committee reported Thursday. “The state needs to be involved in asking the people of the state to support a water project,” said Travis Smith, chairman of the subcommittee. Smith is a rancher and represents the Rio Grande basin on the Colorado Water Conservation Board as well. “There has to be a willingness of state agencies to solve problems rather than create problems.” A task force of state agencies that would establish a process to gain approval for water projects was suggested. It would give proponents of projects a clearer idea of what is needed to obtain permits, Smith said.
The IBCC discussed whether the governor, Legislature or agency directors need to act, and when action would be appropriate. Other concerns included how to interact with federal agencies, overcoming legal restrictions of water court and how the turnover in state government could affect water projects that might take a generation to develop…
“We have to start doing things in a new way, because our tools today are different than 40 years ago,” said Eric Kuhn, manager of the Colorado River Conservation District. “We have to find new approaches to move creative ideas through water court, or else we’re fighting yesterday’s battles.” Kuhn said the district reached substantial agreement with Denver, Colorado Springs and other Front Range water suppliers eight years ago, but the process has stalled in water court…
The IBCC gave the proposal its nod as part of a report on how to deal with projected shortfalls of municipal water supply. The final report is expected to be completed in December.
More IBCC — basin roundtables coverage here.