Here’s the report about the meeting from Western Resource Advocates. Here’s an excerpt:
Residents of the West don’t want their rivers dried-up, their recreation ruined, and special places destroyed. They especially don’t want their taxpayer dollars to support irresponsible projects. That was the feedback received through a telephone town hall meeting that provided 7,400 members of the public the opportunity to learn and ask questions about the proposed Flaming Gorge pipeline.
The controversial pipeline is a 560 mile-long project that would remove a massive amount of water from both the Green and Colorado Rivers. The water would be used for future growth along Colorado’s Front Range. The audience uniformly expressed concern and consternation about this proposed pipeline that would from stretch from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in southwestern Wyoming to cities in the South Denver Metro region.
A panel of experts, including WRA Water Program director Bart Miller, laid-out what’s behind the proposal and what it means to residents in a three-state region. Callers lit-up switchboards to ask questions about how much the project would cost, who would benefit, and remark how little information has been publicly available up until now.
Participants sent a clear message: they are not convinced that the pipeline should be built at all. It would transport the most expensive water Colorado has ever seen, use a huge amount of energy, and have severe negative economic impacts to the region around Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The proposal also ignores less expensive and less controversial solutions for meeting water needs, such as conservation, efficiency, reuse, and other smaller projects.
In mid-September, the Colorado Water Conservation Board will determine whether they will continue to use taxpayer dollars to fund a task force looking into the viability of the Flaming Gorge pipeline. Upon gathering feedback from the public at the town hall forum, this appears to be a very unpopular idea.
Click through for video from Peter McBride.