Click the link to read the article on The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel website (Dennis Webb). Here’s an excerpt:
February 16, 2024
A regional effort to purchase major Colorado River water rights in Glenwood Canyon gained major Western Slope support this week when the Ute Water Conservancy District pitched in $2 million toward the cause. The Mesa County entity’s board unanimously approved the contribution on Wednesday. An effort being led by the Colorado River District is seeking to buy water rights associated with the Shoshone hydroelectric power plant in Glenwood Canyon from Xcel Energy for $98.5 million, plus $500,000 to cover Xcel’s transaction costs. The rights include a right to flows of 1,250 cubic feet per second that dates back to 1902, along with a second, 158-cfs right that was appropriated in 1929…
The purchase is intended to ensure the flows continue even if the plant ever closes, through reaching an agreement with the state and pursuing a water court decree that would change the rights so they are not just for hydropower production but are instream flow rights would also ensure the flows continue.
The river district has committed $20 million itself for the purchase, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board recently supported pitching in $20 million in state funds, contingent on approval by the state legislature. The river district also has said it hopes to secure $49 million in federal funding and $10 million from West Slope governments and water entities.