Articles – State Water Issues
CWCB & PEPO Outline Priorities for the Statewide Initiatives Fund
Public Education Outreach & Participation (PEPO) funding was recently expanded by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to include a “Statewide Initiatives” category. In creating the Statewide Initiatives category, the Water Plan serves as the main driver...
read moreCollaborative partnership leads to shared successes for Platte River water users and species alike
Historical accounts often cite that the Platte River flowed a mile wide and a foot deep across the central plains of Nebraska. The channel was braided, shallow, wide, and mostly unvegetated. Spring runoff brought large flushes of sediment, forming sandbars in the...
read moreAddressing public safety at low head dams in Colorado
American Whitewater’s database of whitewater accidents and fatalities, maintained since 1972, documents that 10 percent of river fatalities nationwide are a result of individuals getting caught in a low head dam hydraulic. These dams are generally defined as man-made...
read moreThe Water Puzzle: Yampa River Edition
Puzzles are a team effort: someone studies the picture, someone finds the edge pieces, and others look for certain colors. Then, the assembly begins. Finishing the puzzle is gratifying, but even better are the moments when you finally find that one piece that you’ve...
read moreIrrigation and Water Use in the Republican River Basin
The Republican River Basin is located in the northeast corner of the state of Colorado, and extends into the Southwest corner of Nebraska and the Northwest corner of Kansas. This basin consists either entirely or partially of Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Washington,...
read moreUpper Gunnison Basin Tools for Generating Water, Forecasting Streamflow and Weather Monitoring
I don’t have to tell water users in the Rio Grande basin that the source of fuel for the economic engine that supports many small rural communities in Colorado is WATER. That goes for the Upper Gunnison River Basin as well. Contrary to what many visitors and even...
read moreGovernor Polis and Water Education Colorado Launch Water ’22 Initiative to Implore Coloradans to Conserve and Protect Water Amidst Historic Drought, Fires
DENVER – (Jan. 26, 2022) – Today, just less than a month after one of Colorado’s most destructive fires caused in part by drought, Governor Polis and Water Education Colorado launched Water ’22, a statewide, year-long initiative that implores Coloradans to take an...
read moreColorado Issues Becoming Clearer in Compact Case
While Colorado remains largely an observer in the ongoing federal court case over the Rio Grande Compact, the issues that could increase its involvement have become clearer since Texas filed its initial complaint eight years ago.
read moreRio Grande Basin to Assist in Colorado Water Plan Update
In 2015, then-Governor John Hickenlooper signed a momentous document into being – the Colorado Water Plan. At the time, decades of analysis concluded that a gap was widening between the limited supply of water and an increasing demand from users. This gap in water...
read moreWater: The New Normal
The Western United States has long considered its mountains, a hedge against drought and water shortage. Yet citizens in these areas are faced with accepting a new moisture norm. Many western communities have seen water supplies shrink, temperatures rise and...
read moreAn Overview of the Colorado Water Plan
By Judy Lopez In Colorado it is a given that “the Gap” is widening between water supply and demand. In May of 2013, Governor Hickenlooper issued an executive order that directed the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to develop Colorado’s Water Plan. The CWCB...
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