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Welcome to Western Resource Advocates’ Water Program! Here, you can find information on our work to promote urban water efficiency and conservation while protecting the West’s rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Use the buttons in the right column to learn more.

WRA: Water

Research and Reports

View the water policy and research reports produced by WRA's Water Program.

Water Program News

• WRA Working for Passage of Colorado Bill to Fund Water Conservation

WRA is actively supporting passage of SB 10-025 in the Colorado General Assembly, a bill that reauthorizes state funding for municipal water conservation programs.  Large water providers in the state are required by law to create water conservation plans, but are often short of funds to carry out the provisions of these plans.  SB 10-025 would reauthorize an existing program that has successfully aided large municipalities in drafting effective conservation plans, installing low water use landscaping, and beginning leak detection programs for municipal water systems.

Water efficiency programs have proved effective in reducing water consumption and reducing the need for additional diversions from already overstressed streams and rivers.  It is a cost–effective solution as well, freeing up additional water for as little as $1,000-2,000/acre-foot compared to $10,000 OR 20,000 /acre-foot for building new water supply projects.  Read the text of the bill here.

• Two Water Supply Studies can do More to Get it Right

WRA is working hard to improve two on-going State studies that attempt to quantify Colorado’s future water demands and craft strategies to meet future needs. We submitted in-depth comments that critique the State's analysis. As a result, these plans should do a better job of protecting Colorado's  rivers, water-based recreation, and quality of life.

Our comments on the future demands report spell out key revisions to improve its accuracy and usefulness for future water planning. Specifically, we suggest: (1) integrating conservation into water demand projections, (2) applying consistent water use values (and methodologies), (3) using more up-to-date population projections, and (4) correcting other data errors.

Our comments on the water supply strategies report, joined by partner organizations Trout Unlimited and Colorado Environmental Coalition, illustrate that the report does not yet provide a balanced analysis of the water conservation, agricultural transfer, and transbasin diversion strategies. The report focuses mainly on the financial and engineering aspects of large, new water supply pipelines--proposals that would be expensive, controversial, and environmentally damaging. The report ignores smaller-scale Front Range incremental strategies, like shared infrastructure/system integration, water reuse and aquifer storage.

• New Study Suggests Much Drier Colorado River Basin

Preliminary results from the Colorado River Water Availability Study suggest that climate change will have a far-reaching impact on western slope river flows, and casts serious doubt over the assumed availability of additional west slope water to meet Front Range demands. This study is one of several funded by the Colorado Water Conservation Board that aim to quantify Colorado’s future water needs, determine the availability of future supplies, and craft solutions that meet future demands.

In general, the report describes how increased temperatures and decreased summer precipitation caused by climate change will lead to earlier runoff from rivers and a significant reduction in river flows. A warmer future will increase agricultural irrigation needs and decrease flows available for new appropriation. The study forecasts that the available supply of the Gunnison River at Grand Junction could decrease by more than 400,000 AF/yr. Notably, the existing analysis does not take into account the impact conditional water rights would have on water availability if they are put to use, like those owned by the oil shale companies (see WRA's Water on the Rocks report), and does not include currently planned projects like Denver Water’s Moffat Expansion or Northern’s Windy Gap Firming Project.

WRA sees these initial results pointing to the necessity of incorporating climate change impacts into all future water planning processes. River health, and other uses for water such as recreation, are going to suffer under climate change, making water conservation efforts by Colorado cities an even more essential task in the face of declining raw water supplies. Clearly, the State needs to act cautiously toward any plans for additional diversions of water out of the Colorado River Basin, including current proposals like the Windy Gap Firming Project and Moffat system, because additional large-scale development of Colorado River water complicates how we will meet our legal obligations to downstream states.

• Protecting the Domingues Canyon Wilderness

On March 30, 2009, Congress passed legislation designating the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area. The new 66,000-acre wilderness lies in the heart of the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area, west of the Gunnison River and south of Grand Junction, Colorado. The wilderness designation provides a unique and important opportunity for the State of Colorado to use its instream flow program to protect federal wilderness values. As a process unfolds to determine how much water is needed to protect this new wilderness area, it's important that the water rights established be adequate, not only to keep the streams flowing, but to insure the health of the aquatic and riparian ecosystems that rely on them. Read more on issues facing Domingues Canyon here.

• WRA Provides Congressional Testimony to Continue Recovery Program Funding

In September, Western Resource Advocates spoke out for the voice-less--four species of native fish whose health marks the Colorado River's overall well-being as a ribbon of life in the arid West. WRA asked Congress to continue funding for the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program). The successful program’s funding is up for renewal. Though much work has be completed (including fish ladders on dams to provide passage to longer segments of many rivers) much work remains to be done. WRA has a long-term commitment to the Recovery Program’s implementation and the survival of the endangered fish.

Future efforts recovering the four endangered fish species means remedying many problems plaguing the Colorado River Basin and its major tributaries (like the Green, Yampa, and Gunnison) for decades: the Recovery Program’s activities improve water quality; enhance recreation; protect habitat for fish, plants, and wildlife species unique to the American West; and aid in returning the iconic river to a measure of its former self.

Continued funding will pay for river restoration, removal of invasive fish species, stocking of native fish, and funding of water management activities to return natural flow cycles to the river. In so doing, the funding will help return the large rivers of the West to a more vibrant, natural state, helping instill a sense of wonder in anyone who visits them.

The program is supported by western governors, federal and state agencies and other stakeholders in the Colorado River Basin whose ability to develop water is dependent on the Recovery Program’s success.

• Congress Passes Omnibus Lands Bill That Includes Protecting Water in Dominguez Canyon

Congress passed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, a sweeping piece of legislation that will protect and conserve a broad array of public lands across the nation. Among the areas benefiting from the Act are the newly designated Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area.

Western Resource Advocates helped craft a unique water rights solution for the legislation that established the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area. Working closely with state agencies and Western Slope water interests in 2007 and 2008 we helped reach a compromise on federal legislation that calls upon the state’s instream flow program to secure flows in the new federal wilderness. The legislation, which passed both chambers of Congress in March 2009 provides that if the state fails to secure appropriate flows, the Secretary of the Interior can file for a federal water right to protect a wide array of wilderness values.

• Judge Sides with WRA on Coal Bed Methane Water Case

In a key victory for residents of gas-producing areas and Colorado rivers, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that groundwater pumping to produce coal bed methane is subject to the same regulations as other groundwater withdrawals.  The water that energy companies have been depleting from underground aquifers was the same water farmers, ranchers and domestic water users rely upon. Western Resource Advocates filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in support of private ranchers who prevailed in the Supreme Court case.

Millions of gallons of groundwater are pumped out by coal bed methane wells to allow the release of the gasses held in place by the water. The gas industry has treated this water as a nuisance and sought ways to dispose of it either by dumping it into neighboring waterways or re-injecting it into deeper aquifers. But in some cases this groundwater is connected to lakes, rivers and streams and is part of aquifers used by used by other water users with water rights to use the groundwater. Coal bed methane pumping practices can dry out the water supplies of others.

The Supreme Court ruled that under these circumstances, coal bed methane producers must files for water rights to use this water and be subject to the same standards of waste and beneficial use as any other water user.

“The court made a sound ruling based on a common-sense reading of Colorado law,” said Bart Miller, Western Resource Advocates water program director “The decision recognizes water is a scarce and valuable resource in Colorado. It’s an important decision and one that protects senior water rights, including those that benefit the environment.”

• WRA co-authors "Healthy Rivers" Report on Poudre River, NISP Project

Healthy Rivers, Healthy Communities: A Balanced Proposal for the Cache la Poudre River in Colorado (542KB .pdf)
Co-authored with the Save the Poudre Coalition, "Healthy Rivers" examines the impacts the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) would have on the Poudre River in Northern Colorado and how other alternative measures can achieve the same goals set for the NISP project. The report also exposes flawed data and cost estimates provided by project proponents.




• WRA a Force for Defeating Amendment 52

A Colorado ballot initiative that would have siphoned money away from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) was defeated with help from WRA. 

Colorado’s severance tax on minerals extracted from Colorado land is a critical source of funding for many CWCB programs that work to resolve Colorado’s water-related problems.  The loss of funding would have had a negative effect on CWCB efforts to improve water use efficiency, repair aging and leaky infrastructure, control water-hungry invasive plants such as tamarisk, control invasive nuisance aquatic species such zebra mussels, protect endangered and other sensitive aquatic species, and other beneficial CWCB programs. It was estimated that passage of Amendment 52 would have siphoned off tens of millions of dollars each year for the next several years.

WRA’s work is especially prescient in hindsight, as changing economic conditions and a slowdown in resource extraction is already threatening to reduce severance tax revenues.  Passage of Amendment 52 combined with current economic conditions could have been disastrous to many water programs.

WRA provided legal analysis and advice to voter education materials, including the “blue book” mailed to each voter in the state, as well as to groups opposing the measure. We are grateful that, presented with the facts, the citizens of Colorado defeated Amendment 52.

• WRA Given Voice in AWWA Webcast

Environmental Values an Important Part of Water Policy Planning

 

WRA's Bart Miller was part of a panel that addressed the relationship between water utilities and environmental values. Historically, water utilities have focused their attention on securing bountiful supplies and system reliability, ignoring the environmental consequences of water withdrawals. Given the environmental and dollar costs of squeezing more water out of already depleted rivers, water utilities now have to pay attention to the value of keeping water within rivers and streams and to the cost-effectiveness of placing greater emphasis on water conservation.

Read Bart's presentation for the November 5th webcast.

Click here to view a recorded version of the webcast.

Water Agreement to Protect the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Decades of negotiations, legal wrangling and involvement by WRA have finally produced more water for the Gunnison River. A Water Court judge finalized the water rights decree for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park returning healthier streamflows back to a river beginning this year that has been long controlled by three upstream dams. Read the press release here.

Carved over the millennia by the Gunnison River, the Black Canyon is recognized as a national treasure for its spectacular gorges, wildlife habitat, and unique scientific value. It is home to a world-class trout fishery and mesmerizes visitors with its wild roar of cascading water, especially when it reaches its peak flow each spring. The Black Canyon became a national monument in 1933 and was elevated to National Park status in 1999.

Western Resource Advocates has actively sought protection of the Black Canyon and Gunnison River for years, representing five conservation organizations in the Black Canyon water rights case—the largest, and one of the most important, water cases in Colorado’s history.  On June 6, 2008, a proposed settlement signaled an end to more than 30 years of contentious water rights battles.

Restoring the Ecological Balance: A New Flow Regime

Interested parties in the Black Canyon water rights case presented a settlement of the federal reserved water right, which includes annual peak flows and shoulder flows—tied to natural inflow—plus a year-round base flow of 300 cubic feet per second. Collectively, these elements are critical to the health of the Park and the Gunnison River.

This flow regime will protect the water-dependant resources of the Black Canyon and help restore the ecological balance in the river system disrupted by three federal dams immediately upstream of the Park. The flows will create a healthier environment for a
world class trout fishery, cleanse sediment deposits that have caused whirling disease in trout, clear woody debris, maintain the river channel, and greatly improve the aesthetics of a flowing river for hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world each year.

Negotiating Protection for the Black Canyon

Interested parties at the negotiation table included irrigators in the Gunnison basin, hydroelectric power producers, flat water recreationists, boaters, federal agencies (including the National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish & Wildlife Service), the State of Colorado, towns concerned about flood control, anglers, and conservation groups.

“Considering the number of organizations and interests involved, the water settlement epitomizes the tremendous complexities of environmental negotiation,” said Andy Spielman, a partner at Hogan & Hartson, representing, on a pro bono basis, all seven conservation groups involved in the case. “What’s truly encouraging is how everyone’s needs were addressed with integrity to create a workable compromise for all.”

The protection proposed for the Black Canyon is the culmination of many years of effort by Western Resource Advocates representing five other conservation organizations and working in partnership with Trout Unlimited and the National Parks Conservation Association. 

Bart Miller, WRA’s Water Program director and attorney in the Black Canyon case, played a lead role in negotiations and collaborated closely with in-basin interests and State and federal officials.  He has organized research for the environmental groups’ hydrologist and sits on the committee that set the agenda for mediation.  Most invaluably, Bart has been the primary author of correspondence from the conservation groups to the federal agencies, and has acted as the chief point of contact between the conservation groups and other parties.  The law firm of Hogan and Hartson provided extensive pro bono assistance to us, our clients, and our partners in this litigation. 

Continuing Protection for the Black Canyon National Park

The settlement proposed in June 2008 continues the success WRA has achieved in protecting the Black Canyon.  In September of 2006, in an historic decision, U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer issued a decision to protect the magnificent natural resources of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. This decision blocked the federal government from giving away the Black Canyon’s long-standing reserved water right to those who would like to use the water for development on Colorado’s Front Range. The decision also established an important precedent about governmental responsibility for protecting water resources of National Parks across the country.

With the court’s decision, the Black Canyon was saved from a 2003 agreement between the federal government and Colorado officials that would have opened the possibility of diverting Gunnison River water a hundred miles away from the park for use fueling more Front Range sprawl.

Over the past five years, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park has faced numerous threats to its ecological health, recreational use, and aesthetic quality.  The series of victories to protect the Black Canyon demonstrates that with effective collaboration, unrelenting determination, and ardent supporters, WRA’s work can go far in protecting the West’s land, air, and water now and for generations to come.

All photos courtesy of National Park Service.

Water Conservation in Las Vegas

The Las Vegas Valley is a place that has built its reputation on extravagant excess; opportunities to “win big” greet you with nearly every turn, the population is booming, and the economy is thriving.

However, with only four inches of precipitation each year, Las Vegas is the second driest city in the nation (Yuma, AZ is the first). In an attempt to meet the growing urban demand, the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is pursuing a plan to pump groundwater over 200 miles from rural parts of northern Nevada down into the Valley. This proposal threatens to negatively impact both water users and southwestern river systems.

WRA works as part of a coalition to find ways to protect the people and ecosystems of rural Nevada. Through testimony before decision makers, a new report comparing water conservation strategies in the Valley to other southwestern cities, and continued pressure on the SNWA, progress is slowly being achieved. Late last fall, the SNWA doubled their rebate for replacing water thirsty lawn turf with native drought-tolerant landscaping and the Las Vegas Valley Water District improved water rate structures to further encourage conservation. The state engineer also made decisions that limit how much groundwater can be harvested from Nevada aquifers — denying SNWA part of their claim to rural water.

WRA will continue working for sustainable solutions to meet southern Nevada’s water needs. Through continued technical analysis and close collaboration with coalition members we will find innovative ways to protect water resources throughout the southwest.

Related Reports:

The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada’s (PLAN) report, Where does it start? Where will it end? Las Vegas and the Groundwater Development Project, provides an overview of the potential plans, costs and impacts of the Southern Nevada Water Authority's proposal to extract groundwater from rural Nevada and Utah and send it over 250 miles to Las Vegas. To read the full report, click here (10 Mb).

Western Resource Advocate’s report illustrates that although communities in the Southwest have taken impressive strides to reduce urban water demand, there is still more that can be done. Water in the Urban Southwest: An Updated Analysis of Water Use in Albuquerque, Las Vegas Valley and Tucson provides new information on water use in these fast growing municipalities and shows that business, schools and resorts are integrating conservation into their day–to-day practices, reducing their demand by millions of gallons each year. To read the full report, click here (4.6 Mb).