Some still don’t have a reliable water source near the headwaters of the Colorado River

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August 2, 2022

Country Meadows Mobile Park. Maltarich/KBUT — *Country Meadows Mobile Park. Stephanie Maltarich/KBUT*

By Stephanie Maltarich

Water supply is regularly interrupted for residents in a Gunnison mobile home park. After years of bringing attention to the issue, they still haven’t seen solutions. Several members of the community have been working on a state-wide plan to bring more attention to water equity issues.

Listen to the story here.

A few weeks ago, residents of a mobile home park in Gunnison were without water for most of the day; the three wells that supply water are often unreliable. Those who live in the park have been speaking up for years without result. While some in the valley struggle with reliable water, a few Gunnison residents worked on a new state initiative to address equity in water issues in Colorado.

Just off the highway, a few minutes north of Gunnison, is Country Meadows mobile home park. The dusty dirt lot is made up of about 55 mobile homes nestled beneath a stand of cottonwood trees.

Elizabeth McGee moved to the park last August, and it didn’t take her long to learn that the water may or may not come out of the faucet – depending on the day.

“My sister lives with my mom, she’s like, ‘yeah, we’ll go without water forever’ and I’m like, this is not okay,” said McGee.

This motivated McGee to join the nonprofit, Organizacion de Nuevas Esperanzas, or ONE, which translates to “new hopes” in Spanish. Last year, a group of mobile home park residents formed the nonprofit in to voice their concerns about water and a long list of other problems.

“I think 20 trailers up here in front that went without water almost all day yesterday,” said McGee. “It was on for a little while, and then it got turned off again.”

McGee was recently elected as ONE’s board president, and she says the nonprofit has helped residents connect with the county, lawyers and advocacy groups to call attention to the park’s owner who rarely responded to their concerns. In 2020, they filed complaints with the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), but since the park sold in the spring, no one is sure if, or when, they’ll see a resolution.

*Elizabeth McGee, Country Meadows resident and ONE Board President. Maltarich/KBUT*

Gunnison sits at the headwaters of the Colorado River. Access to water to drink, shower, wash dishes and do laundry is usually as simple as twisting a knob and letting water run from the tap. But a 2019 census study found that one in 45 homes in Gunnison County has poor plumbing.

Sonja Chavez is the general manager of the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District (UGRWCD). The organization started in 1959 to protect all water uses in the Upper Gunnison River Basin. Chavez’s job keeps her in the know about all things related to water. And sometimes, what she learns is surprising.

“I know within my own local community, there are people who don’t have access to good quality, clean water,” said Chavez.

Chavez is part of a Colorado group that spent the last year discussing many issues around water equity. The conversations focused on water equity often focused on the fact that some don’t have access to reliable, clean drinking water.

The group is called the Water Equity Task Force, and it brought together 21 diverse people, including members of Colorado’s federally recognized tribes and the acequia community, located in Southeast Colorado.

“Our conversations and our task, as dictated by the governor, was really to identify the ways in which the Colorado Water Conservation Board could ensure that they are having diversity, equity and inclusion around conversations on water, and that we reach all the various populations,” Chavez said.

The group met four times over a year to help incorporate equity into the Colorado Water Plan. The state created the plan in 2015 to work on the state’s water challenges while planning for an uncertain future. This year, the plan will see a huge update, and addressing equity is a big priority.

*Sonja Chavez general manager of Upper Gunnison Watershed Conservancy District. Maltarich/KBUT*

Some of the members of the task force had deep connections to water, but others were community members with other areas of expertise. Like Dr. Alina Luna, professor emeritus at Western Colorado University.

For Dr. Luna, water equity means everyone has access to potable water.

“We need water to allow people not only to thrive,” said Dr. Luna. “But also to be able to exist and survive.”

Dr. Luna has years of experience in equity-focused work. She chaired Western’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Internationalization Committee and created an undergraduate minor with a focus on diversity.

Although she admits she didn’t know much about water issues before sitting on the task force, she thinks if people can understand the basis of equity, they can apply it to all water issues.

”You know, people, I think, confuse equity with equality,” said Dr. Luna. “Equity is about meeting people where they are giving them what they need to be successful. Equality assumes that everybody needs the same thing to succeed.”

Back at Country Meadows, Elizabeth McGee said she never considered herself an organizer or community activist before moving here.

“I used to be a very quiet in my own little world type person,” said McGee. “And then I moved out here and I was getting tired of all of us getting abused because that’s pretty much what’s happening, is we’re being abused.”

*Alina Luna stands outside Western Colorado University. Maltarich/KBUT*

No one in Country Meadows is sure what will happen now that the park is under new ownership, but McGee said she and members of ONE will continue to fight until they know every home in the park has a steady stream of water.

KBUT’s Headwaters series was made possible by The Water Desk, an independent initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

Emergency Colorado River rescue plan likely to include more Flaming Gorge releases, payments to cut water use

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Fresh Water News

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August 2, 2022

*Rancher Bryan Bernal irrigates a field that depends on Colorado River water near Loma, Colo. Credit: William Woody*

By Jerd Smith

Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming may face requests for voluntary cutbacks in their use of Colorado River water next year, as the federal government eyes releasing more water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir and as Arizona, California and Nevada scramble to find ways to slash water use quickly.

Experts say these actions are among dozens of options likely to be on the table as negotiators race to find ways to help rescue lakes Powell and Mead, whose levels continue to drop in the midst of another desperately dry drought year.

Last month, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton gave the seven states that share the Colorado River 60 days to come up with a plan to cut water use by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet next year and going forward to keep the system from collapsing. A plan is expected to be unveiled on or before Aug. 16.

The Colorado River system reservoirs, including Powell, Mead and Flaming Gorge, are managed by the federal government and Touton has made clear that the feds will decide how to cut water use themselves if the states and other major players, such as the tribes and environmental groups, don’t come up with their own feasible plan.

This week the Upper Basin states, which include Colorado, released a five-point plan outlining what they would be willing to do. Actions in the plan include supporting the release of more water from Upper Basin reservoirs, re-starting a large-scale farm fallowing program, improving water measurement and monitoring, saving more water in a special drought pool in Lake Powell, and implementing more conservation programs in the Upper Basin.

What the Lower Basin states will propose isn’t clear yet, but what is clear is that the dwindling river continues to deteriorate.

What the river produces

Once thought to generate more than 15 million acre-feet (maf) of water annually, the Colorado River as a whole now generates much less, thanks to a 22-year drought that shows no signs of easing. With the Lower Basin states, Arizona, California and Nevada, routinely using some 10 maf, and the Upper Basin states using between 3.5 to 4.5 maf, lakes Powell and Mead have been drawn down to cover the river’s annual shortfalls.

Now, the massive hydropower plants at Lake Powell are in danger of shutting down, with Powell and Mead roughly 25% full.

According to a new Reclamation analysis the system will need 600,000 to 4.5 million acre-feet annually through 2026 to keep Powell’s hydropower system operating and help balance the river system. This is in addition to current efforts to increase lake levels and conserve water.

While Upper Basin states have called loudly for Lower Basin states to shoulder the burden for Commissioner Touton’s cuts, Colorado experts such as Brad Wind, general manager for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, said everyone will have to contribute to achieve the cutbacks.

“I imagine the folks at the negotiating table are looking at every tool possible to rebalance the system. Some mandatory, some voluntary,” Wind said. “We need to put our heads together on how we can conserve water. The supplies are shrinking. If we have to have cutbacks, and that is one option we have heard about, it would have grave consequences for Northern Colorado.”

Pots of water

Jennifer Gimbel, interim director of Colorado State University’s water center and former deputy commissioner for Reclamation, said the federal government will likely call for more releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah. In July of 2021, the federal government took emergency action and released 161,000 acre-feet of combined water from Flaming Gorge and Blue Mesa Reservoir in Colorado. This year the feds ordered another 500,000 acre-feet be released from Flaming Gorge and opted to cut releases from Powell by 500,000 acre-feet to create a 1 million acre-foot buffer.

But it is already clear that won’t be enough.

“It’s reasonable to assume that they are looking at all pots of water available to them, including Flaming Gorge,” Gimbel said.

She also said it was likely that the Lower Basin will ask the Upper Basin states to make voluntary cutbacks in their own water use, given that California, Arizona and Nevada are being forced by the federal government to do so.

“The Lower Basin would ask the Upper Basin to cut back as part of any bigger deal that’s on the table, but that will be a hard sell in the Upper Basin because we haven’t been using our full 7.5 million acre-feet,” she said.

Gimbel was referring to the amount of water the Upper Basin states are legally entitled to under the 1922 Colorado River Compact, in which the Upper Basin and Lower Basin states were each allocated 7.5 million acre-feet of water.

Crisis averted earlier?

Melinda Kassen, a former environmental water attorney for Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said watching the Colorado River unravel has been disappointing, because so many people have been trying for years to get the states and the federal government to act sooner.

“This all could have been prevented,” she said, “and it’s particularly painful for me to watch, given that we gave the Upper Basin a chance with the DCP [2019 Drought Contingency Plan] to think hard, do a lot of testing and try some things, and they chose to do nothing.”

Kassen was referring to Colorado’s decision earlier this year to temporarily halt work on establishing a drought pool in Lake Powell, which would have required voluntary reductions in water use primarily by the state’s farmers, and the ability to track and measure the amount of conserved water that made it to Powell. Those reductions, envisioned to be temporary and compensated, would have come as part of a program known as demand management, and putting it in place under the DCP requires agreement from all four Upper Basin states.

“We could have stored 500,000 acre-feet in Powell,” she said. “We could have put together a program to pay people not to farm. The water wouldn’t have been lost. Instead we squandered an opportunity to figure out how to do this.”

Colorado officials cited, in part, waiting for the other Upper Basin states to catch up as the reason for putting the program’s development on hold.

All eyes on ag

Because agriculture consumes roughly 80% of the river’s supplies basin-wide, finding ways to slash agricultural water use in the short term and long term will be critical, experts said.

Gimbel and others are hopeful that billions of dollars in new funding through the new federal infrastructure act can be used immediately to pay growers to temporarily cut back use until ag irrigation systems can be further modernized to use less water.

“When we have federal money to spend, we need to be looking at innovations in irrigation and farming,” Gimbel said. “But it’s not just as simple as changing crops. We know that irrigation uses a lot of this water, we know we depend on it to feed ourselves, but we have to put some heavy duty investments into how to do it differently and sustainably.”

On Aug. 16, Reclamation will release a new 2023 forecast for the river. Negotiators, unless they get an extension, must have a plan ready by then, according to Reclamation officials.

That tight deadline is almost unprecedented in the water world, where negotiations over delicate political issues and highly technical water management issues typically take years to bear fruit.

Bathtub drains

Larry Clever manages the Ute Water Conservancy District in Grand Junction, which relies solely on the Colorado River and its tributaries for its supplies.

Clever is among those who are calling for immediate cutbacks in use by the Lower Basin states. Without those, he said, there will be little chance of bringing Powell and Mead back up to more sustainable levels.

“It’s hard to fill a bathtub when the drain is open,” he said.

Jerd Smith is editor of Fresh Water News. She can be reached at 720-398-6474, via email at jerd@wateredco.org or @jerd_smith.

Fresh Water News is an independent, nonpartisan news initiative of Water Education Colorado. WEco is funded by multiple donors. Our editorial policy and donor list can be viewed at wateredco.org

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

A centuries-old system determines who gets water first and last

By

KBUT Community Radio

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July 25, 2022

Ditches meander through Peterson Ranch. Maltarich/KBUT — *Ditches meander through Peterson Ranch. Stephanie Maltarich/KBUT*

By Stephanie Maltarich

Listen to the story here.

Prior appropriation is the water law in the West that determines how water is divided among users. Most of the water in the Colorado River Basin is used for agriculture. Increasingly, Colorado is designating rights to streams themselves as rivers and drought continues to shrink water supplies.

In the Upper Gunnison River Basin, the majority of the water that melts from mountains is used for agriculture. Fields are irrigated for pasture and hay to feed cattle on the nearly 100 ranches in the region. A centuries-old system determines who gets their first and who gets it last.

Just off of Highway 50, about 15 miles east of Gunnison, Greg Peterson toured = his family’s ranch, Peterson Ranch. The land is an intricate system of water-filled ditches that runs through thousands of acres. The property has about 15-20 ditches in total.

“So this is Tomichi Creek and the water is diverted out of it into the ditch that we irrigate with,” said Peterson.

Peterson’s parents bought the property in 1962, but the water rights tied to the land go back much further – all the way back to 1882. The ranch is one of nearly 100 small operations in the Upper Gunnison River Basin, most of which raise cattle and grow hay.

*Greg Peterson at his ranch near Gunnison. Maltarich/KBUT*

On a spring day in May, Peterson is awaiting peak water runoff, so far runoff has been slow to fill the ditches so he can irrigate his property. He explained how the water moves from the ditch onto his property.

“So we’ve created a dam in the river,” said Peterson. “And then the water goes down the ditch to where we turn it out in different places and irrigate with it.”

About 80% of the water that runs through the Colorado River Basin is used for agriculture. In and around the Gunnison Valley, the number is even higher, about 95%.

Colorado’s water law is called prior appropriation, and it dates back to the end of the 19th century. And in theory, it’s pretty simple. To get a right to water, it had to be diverted from a stream or river and put to use, like irrigating fields. The right was made official after a court process.

*Flume measures water as it flows through Greg Peterson’s ditch. Maltarich/KBUT*

The system goes by ‘first in time, first in right.’ Those who came first have senior water rights. Latecomers were given junior water rights. On dry years, those with a senior right may use all of the water, and, junior users may not have access to any. It’s not a perfect system, but Greg Peterson said it works.

Peterson explained that when the water is short in the river, senior water rights holders control the system.

“If it wasn’t for that, it’d be chaos,” said Peterson. “So yeah, I’m a strong believer in the prior appropriation system.”

Stacy McPhail is the executive director of the Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy. The organization was founded in 1995, and since then has helped ranching families conserve their lands and water from development.

“It helped keep ranching here, and agriculture as a part of our kind of rural economy,” said McPhail. “But it also helped make sure that the water could not be moved out of our basin.”

Keeping water in the valley tied water rights to the land, and prevented water from being shipped across mountains to an increasingly thirsty front range. McPhail says although a lot of water is used in agriculture, much of it is reused as it flows downstream toward Mexico.

“I’m not certain that everyone in the community or in the larger system of the state knows how recyclable that resource is, and how much we’re putting back into the river,” said McPhail. “It’s not just taking it out, you never see it again, it goes back and is reused and recirculated throughout.”

In the past, creeks have run dry, which kills aquatic life like fish and insects. They require a minimum amount of water called base flow to survive.

Enter Colorado’s Instream Flow program, which started in 1973. Instream flows give legal water rights to rivers and streams and has helped protect almost 10,000 miles of waterways around the state.

One family in the Gunnison Valley is teaming up with the state’s instream flow program. Jesse Kruthaupt’s family also owns a ranch along Tomichi Creek, and he is the upper Gunnison project manager for Trout Unlimited. About a decade ago, the ranch did something unique: it agreed to lease its senior water rights to the river during periods of low flow.

“So our irrigation right becomes instream flow for a period of time,” said Kruthaupt.

In response to the ongoing drought, the state has offered to pay ranchers to leave their water right in the river when levels sink to critically low levels. Kruthaupt said the program, which is facilitated by the Colorado Water Trust, has worked for his family. In addition to running a successful ranch, they also have an interest in the fishery through his work with Trout Unlimited.

But, Kruthaupt said every year it’s a continuous balancing act.

“We were compensated for leaving water in the creek,” said Kruthaupt. “But we have to purchase hay or rent pasture to make up the difference that year.”

Kruthaupt said leasing water to the instream flow program may not fit the bottom line for every ranch. But, creative approaches like this will be essential as an already stressed Colorado River system struggles to meet water demands.

Cebolla creek, a tributary of the Gunnison River. Biddle/KBUT

KBUT’s Headwaters series was made possible by The Water Desk, an independent initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

Colorado Reservoirs at 85% of average capacity, with little recovery expected summer rains may offer temporary relief

By

Fresh Water News

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July 21, 2022

Blue Mesa Reservoir is the largest storage facility in Colorado in the Upper Colorado River system. Prolonged drought and downriver demand is shrinking the reservoir. On this day the water elevation was 7,457 feet. Ted Wood/The Water Desk

By Jerd Smith

As back-to-back drought years continue to reduce snowpack and spring runoff, Colorado’s reservoirs are seeing little to any recovery in storage levels, members of the state’s Water Availability Task Force said Tuesday.

“It’s going to be a challenge for this year and the forseeable future until we get a banner snowpack year,” said Karl Wetlaufer, assistant snow survey supervisor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and a task force member.

Statewide reservoir storage is at 85% of average, a number that hasn’t improved much in the past three years, Wetlaufer said.

Colorado derives the majority of its drinking and farm water supplies from mountain snows that are collected in reservoirs, and as a result, reservoir levels are closely watched.

Across the state’s eight major river basins, those to the north remain the wettest, with the South Platte Basin, which includes metro Denver and the Northern Front Range, seeing storage levels at roughly 94% of normal.

The Colorado River Basin headwater region has storage levels of 98%.

But to the southwest, in the hard-hit San Juan Dolores Basin, which includes Durango, reservoir storage levels are the lowest in the state, registering just 67% of normal,

At the same time, a new report from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that the majority of Colorado remains in moderate to severe drought, with the southern portion of the state still mired in extreme drought.

Looking ahead to September, the forecast shows near normal precipitation for the state, but much higher temperatures as well.

At the same time, the drought continues to sap Colorado’s rivers. Statewide stream flows are expected to hit just 69% of average. And in the picture in the dry southwest corner of the state is grim, with the San Juan Basin expected to see stream flows of just 26% of normal, while the Rio Grande Basin streams are expected to hit 33% of average, according to the NRCS.

Task force member Becky Bolinger, assistant state climatologist at Colorado State University’s Climate Center, said the drought will likely continue into the fall and early winter. Though summer rains will help improve soil moisture levels, it won’t be enough to compensate for the damage already done this year.

According to Bolinger, it is likely that La Niña conditions will continue into the fall and beginning of winter. But if the fall is warm and dry, that could worsen drought conditions and Colorado could start another snowpack season at a deficit.

Still, Colorado’s ability to store water is a bright spot in the broader Colorado River Basin, where Lake Mead and Lake Powell are hovering around just 25% full.

The seven Colorado River Basin states, which include Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, in the Upper Basin, and Arizona, California and Nevada, in the Lower basin, are under an emergency order to come up with a plan to slash water use by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet by August or face mandatory cuts imposed by the federal government.

“We are not getting enough years like 2019 (which had above average mountain snowpacks) to boost reservoirs again,” Bolinger said. “The more likely scenarios are for less water.

“Despite sounding all gloom and doom, if everybody knows what they have to work with, they will adjust. When you know what you’re working with, then you can make good decisions,” she said.

Jerd Smith is editor of Fresh Water News. She can be reached at 720-398-6474, via email at jerd@wateredco.org or @jerd_smith.

Fresh Water News is an independent, nonpartisan news initiative of Water Education Colorado. WEco is funded by multiple donors. Our editorial policy and donor list can be viewed at wateredco.org

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

State officials looking for engagement on updated water plan

By

Aspen Journalism

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July 21, 2022

Raymond Langstaff, a rancher and president of the Bookcliff Conservation District, irrigates a parcel north of Rifle. The 2023 Water Plan update says agriculture could experience an even bigger water supply gap in the future. CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

By Heather Sackett

State officials are hoping dire climate predictions and water shortages will convince Coloradans to get involved in planning how to share a dwindling resource.

Colorado Water Conservation Board staff released the second iteration of the Colorado Water Plan on Thursday, which is now open for public comment. The first version of the plan was implemented in 2015.

Words from the late water expert and former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs set the tone on page 1 of the document: The 21st century is no longer about developing a resource, it is now an era of limits and learning how to share a developed resource.

“I think we get to educate and engage and inspire and be an example and I think that’s the benefit,” said CWCB Executive Director Becky Mitchell. “I think when we are given the opportunity to lead, Coloradans do that.”

The updated plan lays out four interconnected areas for action: vibrant communities, robust agriculture, thriving watersheds and resilient planning. Although municipal and industry does not currently experience a gap, the plan predicts a 230,000 to 740,000 acre-foot shortfall for cities and industries by 2050. According to the plan, about 20% of agriculture diversion demand is currently not met statewide, and that gap could grow to a 3.5 million acre-foot shortfall by 2050 under the “hot growth” scenario that would see temperatures rise 4.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Meeting these supply-demand gaps will require hundreds of water projects throughout Colorado’s eight river basins, and carries a price tag of $20 billion. These projects, many of which have benefits to more than one water-use sector, are laid out in each roundtable’s Basin Implementation Plan.

Boaters float the Yampa River. According to the updated state Water Plan, summer recreation flow needs may not be met in the future due to lower peak flows, fueled by climate change.
CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM — Boaters float the Yampa River. According to the updated state Water Plan, summer recreation flow needs may not be met in the future due to lower peak flows, fueled by climate change.CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

Backdrop of climate change

The 239-page document is set against the backdrop of climate change, which plays a bigger role in this water plan than in the 2015 version. The first water plan did not include projections of future climate change in its analyses. Three of the five planning scenarios now include assumptions of hotter conditions in the years to come.

According to the plan, Colorado has had three of the top five driest years on record since 2000 and has experienced a 2 degree Fahrenheit increase in average temperature. The state may see an additional 2.5 to 5 degree warming by 2050. Most projections show a decline in spring snowpack and more frequent heat waves, drought and wildfire, all of which have implications for water.

Environmental and recreation water needs could see the worst impacts since those uses generally have the most junior water rights.

“Peak runoff may shift as much as one month earlier, which could lead to drier conditions in summer months and impact storage, irrigation and streamflow,” the plan reads. “Decreased peak flows across the basin create risks for riparian/wetland plants and fish habitat. Instream flows and recreational in-channel diversions may not be met if June-August flows decrease due to climate change.”

The pie chart shows how much water each sector uses in Colorado, as well as how much water originating here leaves the state.
CREDIT: COURTESY COLORADO WATER PLAN — The pie chart shows how much water each sector uses in Colorado, as well as how much water originating here leaves the state.CREDIT: COURTESY COLORADO WATER PLAN

Old tensions and trends

The new plan addressed a tension from the first plan: Front Range water providers would like the ability to develop new transmountain diversions in the future, while Western Slope stakeholders say not to look to the Colorado River basin for more water for thirsty cities. Colorado’s Front Range currently takes about 500,000 acre-feet of water a year from the headwaters of the Colorado River basin across the Continental Divide.

The plan stopped short of a detailed analysis of transmountain diversions because of ongoing litigation and permitting processes, but promised that state staff would facilitate discussions about transmountain diversions before the next update to the plan.

“Our promise to West Slope folks was when we could get past those legal barriers, we would take an honest look at trying to have a better conversation,” said Russ Sands, senior program manager for the CWCB’s water supply planning section. “I think we owe it to our stakeholders to try and focus on analysis.”

The plan says Colorado will continue the slow but steady transformation of moving water from agriculture — by far the largest water user — to cities, with nearly 14,000 acres of irrigated land expected to be urbanized, one-third of that in the Grand Valley. Stakeholders estimate the loss of irrigated land to “buy-and-dry” to be even greater at 33,000 to 76,000 acres, which is three times higher than the 2015 Water Plan estimate.

But this could be eased by innovative and flexible agreements between water users that allow the temporary transfer of water from one use to another. Formerly known as Alternative Transfer Methods, state officials have rebranded them Collaborative Water Sharing Agreements, which allow water sharing, but prevent the permanent removal of water from the land.

The Crystal River wends its way downstream along the flanks of Mount Sopris to its confluence with the Roaring Fork River near Carbondale. State officials have released an update to the 2015 Water Plan, which includes hotter and drier future planning scenarios.
CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM — The Crystal River wends its way downstream along the flanks of Mount Sopris to its confluence with the Roaring Fork River near Carbondale. State officials have released an update to the 2015 Water Plan, which includes hotter and drier future planning scenarios.CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

Equity and engagement

State officials have also made an effort to be more inclusive this time around and in March 2021 convened a Water Equity Task Force to help shape a guiding set of principles around equity, diversity and inclusion to inform the water plan. Abby Burk, the western rivers regional program manager with Audubon Rockies, was an equity task force member.

“People are engaging and leaning into the space other than just the water right owners,” she said. “We are all supported by water every single day. How do we expand this decision-making to include more voices? How do we open our arms and encourage more people to come into this space?”

The 2015 Water Plan racked up more than 30,000 comments and state officials are hoping Coloradans become even more involved this time around. The plan lays out three levels of engagement citizens can take and encourages Coloradans to promote water conservation, join water-focused stakeholder groups and coordinate with local leaders to advance water policy.

And there is a small bright spot that shows the potential for change when citizens get engaged: The plan says that Coloradans have reduced their per-person water use from 172 to 164 gallons a day, a 5% reduction in demand since 2008, mainly due to conservation efforts.

Sands said the tough conditions can open people’s minds and make them more willing to come to the table to talk.

“I think we are actually going to see more collaboration than ever,” he said.

The update to the Colorado Water Plan is open for public comment until September 30 and CWCB staff will also hold four online listening sessions. The plan is scheduled to be finalized by the CWCB in January 2023.

Aspen Journalism covers water and rivers in collaboration with The Aspen Times.

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

Recent drop in Lake Powell’s storage shows how much space sediment is taking up

By

Aspen Journalism

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July 21, 2022

Glen Canyon Dam photo — Glen Canyon Dam in Page, Ariz., forms Lake Powell. Bureau data on the reservoir’s water-storage volume showed a loss of 443,000 acre-feet between June 30 and July 1. CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

By Laurine Lassalle

The Bureau of Reclamation last week revised its data on the amount of water stored in Lake Powell, with a new, lower tally taking into account a 4% drop in the reservoir’s total available capacity between 1986 and 2018 due to sedimentation.

Bureau data on the reservoir’s water-storage volume showed a loss of 443,000 acre-feet between June 30 and July 1 — a 6% drop in storage from 6.87 million acre-feet (which is 28.28% of live storage based on 1986 data) to 6.43 million (26.46% of full).

The cause was a recalculation of water stored based on a Bureau of Reclamation and U.S.Geological Survey study released in March — the first such analysis in more than 30 years — about Lake Powell’s loss of storage capacity due to the amount of sediment that the Colorado River and other tributaries deposit into the reservoir. The study was based on data about sediment in the lake collected in 2017 and 2018.

“After inputting the new data on July 1, 2022, storage values at the current elevation were updated, resulting in a decrease of 443,000 acre-feet,“ bureau officials wrote in an email.

The Bureau of Reclamation has performed two prior sediment surveys: pre-impoundment (before the construction of the dam — up to 1963) and in 1986.

Storage capacity figures prior to the release of the report in March had been based on 1986 data, Casey Root, a hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Utah Water Science Center, said in an email.

The new data will be included in the upcoming July 24-Month Study, scheduled to be released in mid-July, which forecasts the reservoir’s volume and surface elevation, and in any subsequent operational projections.

Water storage at Lake Powell, May-July 2022 graph

Slackwater delta

“Like most reservoirs, Lake Powell loses storage capacity as a result of sedimentation from its source rivers,” said Root, who worked on the most recent USGS and Bureau of Reclamation study.

The paper explained that Lake Powell has continuously trapped sediment — including silt, sand and mud — from the Colorado and San Juan rivers since the Glen Canyon Dam impounded the rivers in 1963. The meeting of the free-flowing rivers carrying sediment with the slack water of the reservoir creates a delta, where the sediment falls to the lake’s bottom.

Root explained that the delta regions are located at the furthest extents of Lake Powell and that these areas typically contain the most sediment.

“Sediment isn’t deposited uniformly across the reservoir but rather far from the dam,” he said. “Over time, these deposits can laterally build toward the dam.”

Since it began filling in 1963, the reservoir has lost on average about 33,270 acre-feet in storage capacity each year, according to the study.

“Lake Powell is unique in that it is a long, narrow, steep-walled canyon, so the deltas have historically been about 150 miles away from Glen Canyon Dam,” Root said. “Simply being far away from the deltas can help buffer the dam and its operations against sedimentation.”

Due to this sedimentation, Lake Powell’s storage capacity at full pool decreased by 6.79% from 1963 to 2018, or a 1.83 million acre-foot loss.

Between 1986 and 2018, it dropped by 4%, which represents a loss of 1.05 million acre-feet in 32 years.

Animation showing the sedimentation process in Lake Powell. — This animation shows the sedimentation process in Lake Powell.

Sedimentation and the limits on useful life

While sedimentation is shrinking Lake Powell’s storage capacity, the 2022 study shows that storage loss has remained stable since 1963.

From 1963 to 1986, Lake Powell had lost on average 33,390 acre-feet in storage capacity each year; from 1986 through 2018, 33,180 acre-feet per year was lost, according to the report.

“As a first-order approximation, the average annual storage loss in Lake Powell indicates the remaining volume at full pool will be filled in approximately 750 years. However, the reservoir fills laterally, from the deltas toward Glen Canyon Dam, and would likely cease to be useful sooner,” the study pointed out.

Several other variables — including sedimentation rates and climate sensitivity among others — need to be taken into consideration to better evaluate the remaining useful life of the reservoir.

Researchers are currently working on the July 24-Month Study, which should offer further insights on the reservoir’s future operations when it gets published later this month. Lake Powell dropped to its lowest level since filling prior to this spring’s runoff, which has been increasing reservoir levels since late April. At its lowest point, Lake Powell’s surface elevation at the Glen Canyon Dam dropped to 3,522.24 feet above sea level on April 22, just 32 feet above the minimum level required to generate hydropower. Water volume at the reservoir on that day was listed as being at 23.68% of full pool.

This story ran in the Vail Daily, The Aspen Times, the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent Steamboat Pilot & Today and Craig Press.

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

Blue Mesa is threatened by a two-decade-long drought and downstream obligations

By

KBUT Community Radio

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July 18, 2022

Blue Mesa Reservoir September 2021. Maltarich/KBUT — *Blue Mesa Reservoir September 2021. Stephanie Maltarich/KBUT*

By Stephanie Maltarich

Listen to the story here

The reservoir provides recreation like boating and fishing, powers thousands of homes through hydroelectricity and stores water for Lake Powell and other downstream users. The reservoir is critically low, and it’s possible water levels may be lowered even further in 2022.

Blue Mesa Reservoir once resembled a deep and healthy lake. But a 22-year drought, coupled with obligations to release water to downstream users, has left the reservoir 69-feet below the normal high watermark. Experts say it will take a lot more than one snowy winter to refill the reservoir.

The Gunnison River flows for about 25 miles before it becomes Blue Mesa Reservoir; which stores water, creates power and provides recreation opportunities like fishing and boating.

*Blue Mesa Power Plant supervisor Eric Langley. Maltarich/KBUT*

Erik Knight, a hydrologist with the Bureau of Reclamation, says the reservoir has seen better days.

“Blue Mesa has reached some of its lowest levels on record last year with those emergency releases last year for the drought response operation,” said Knight.

The emergency releases last fall from Blue Mesa dramatically reduced its levels, but kept Lake Powell’s hydroelectric power plant generating. This spring, the reservoir sits at about one-third of what’s called “full pool”, or full capacity. And, it’s estimated that it won’t fill more than halfway by summer’s end.

Knight explains the reservoir is one piece of The Aspinall Unit. The series of dams are named after Wayne Aspinall, a Colorado congressional representative who worked on western land and water issues.

“The Aspinall Unit is comprised of three dams and reservoirs,” said Knight. “We’ve got Blue Mesa Reservoir, that’s the largest one and the furthest upstream and stores the most amount of water.”

Just downstream from Blue Mesa are the other two dams: Morrow Point and Crystal. While storing water is the main function, the reservoirs in the Aspinall Unit also contribute to the grid that supplies power for about 40 million people.

The Blue Mesa Power Plant started generating electricity in 1967. Eric Langley is the plant supervisor.

“Basically these units are ran remotely, out of Page, Arizona,” said Langley. “We’re just basically here doing the maintenance on and making sure that they’re gonna run day to day.”

In the basement of the facility, Langley explained how the facility turns water to power. First, it flows through the dam into the facility through large pressurized pipes called penstocks. Then water spins through turbines creating a magnetic field that puts power onto the grid.

“That’s in a nutshell, there’s a lot more to that, obviously,” Langley said.

The water then flows through Morrow Point and Crystal before joining the Colorado River near Grand Junction. Three similar reservoirs in Wyoming, Utah and Arizona create the entire Colorado River Storage Project.

*Inside the Blue Mesa Power Plant. Maltarich/KBUT*

At the opposite end of Blue Mesa, Nicky Gibney, the aquatic ecologist for Curecanti National Recreation Area and Black Canyon National Park, explained how Blue Mesa’s landscape has changed over the years.

“We call this over here ‘sometimes island’ because right now we’re standing on a peninsula,” said Gibney. “When the water is at full pool, that is actually an island over there, and it seems very far away from being an island right now.”

The park manages activities in and around the reservoir, and keeping the waters accessible to visitors is one of the park’s top priorities. But Gibney said it’s becoming more difficult with low water levels.

“I think we are struggling with how to do that because everything is just unknown right now and that’s a new territory for all of us,” said Gibney.

In mid-May, the park announced the marina would not open for the first time ever.

The Colorado River Compact is a federal agreement between seven western states that defines how water in the Colorado River Basin is divided. Obligations in the compact to release water downstream is one reason for Blue Mesa’s low levels.

But the biggest culprit is the two-decade-long drought.

*Nicky Gibney, aquatic ecologist for Curecanti National Recreation Area and Black Canyon National Park. Maltarich/KBUT.*

Eric Kuhn is the former director of the Colorado River District. He is also the author of “Science Be Dammed”. Kuhn said when the compact was written in 1922, the river was unusually wet – and today it’s unusually dry.

“And climate change has had a big, big impact on the river,” said Kuhn. “So this equitable division that they came up with 100 years ago didn’t consider the impacts of climate change.”

Kuhn says the compact can’t just be re-written or revised. But it may be re-interpreted to reflect modern water supply challenges, like drought and climate change, which are felt at every step along the nearly 1,500-mile river.

KBUT’s Headwaters series was made possible by The Water Desk, an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

Crystal River rancher, Water Trust again try to boost flows

By

Aspen Journalism

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July 18, 2022

Crystal River rancher Bill Fales stands at the headgate for the Helms Ditch photo — Crystal River rancher Bill Fales stands at the headgate for the Helms Ditch, with Mount Sopris in the background. As part of an agreement with the Colorado Water Trust, Fales could be paid to reduce his diversions from the ditch when the river is low. CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

By Heather Sackett

A Crystal River Valley rancher and a nonprofit organization are teaming up for the second time to try to leave more water in a parched stream.

Cold Mountain Ranch owners Bill Fales and Marj Perry have inked a six-year deal with the Colorado Water Trust to voluntarily retime their irrigation practices to leave water in the Crystal River during the late summer and early fall, when the river often needs it the most. In addition to a $5,000 signing bonus, the ranchers will be paid $250 a day up to 20 days, for each cubic foot per second they don’t divert, for a maximum payment of $30,000.

The water would come from reducing diversions from the Helms Ditch and could result in up to an additional 6 cfs in the river. The agreement would become active in the months of August and September any time streamflows dip below 40 cfs and once becoming active, will extend through October. The agreement will lift if streamflows rise above 55 cfs.

The goal of the program is to use voluntary, market-based approaches to encourage agricultural water users — who often own the biggest and most senior water rights — to put water back into Colorado’s rivers during critical times.

The program has the hallmarks of demand management, a much-discussed concept over the past few years at the state level: it’s temporary, voluntary and compensated. Other pilot programs that focus on agricultural water conservation usually involve full or split-season fallowing of fields, but with this agreement Fales still intends to get his usual two cuttings of hay.

“The idea is to find something that is a flexible way for water rights owners to use their water in years where it makes sense for something different than strictly agricultural practices,” said Alyson Meyer-Gould, director of policy with the Colorado Water Trust. “It’s another way to use their water portfolio.”

Streamflows will be measured by a gauge at the Thomas Road Bridge, which is operated by the Roaring Fork Conservancy. The Helms Ditch is located just upstream of the bridge.

According to the Conservancy’s 2016 Crystal River Management Plan, the river below the Thomas Road Bridge often suffers from low flows and high temperatures, especially in drought years, due to the many agricultural diversions. The Crystal River also has a 1975 state instream flow right of 100 cfs on this stretch, intended to preserve the environment to a reasonable degree, but it is often not met during the late irrigation season.

Fales has often been a prominent spokesman for causes that combine agricultural and environmental interests, like preventing oil and gas development in the Thompson Divide area near Carbondale where he grazes cattle.

“Obviously we are like everybody else — we hate to see the river dry,” Fales said. “Also Marj and I are fairly convinced that if there’s going to be problems and controversies over water, we’d rather be trying to find solutions ourselves than have one imposed on us by somebody else.”

Helms Ditch photo — The Helms Ditch, which takes 6 cfs from the Crystal River and has a water right that dates to 1903, irrigates land on Cold Mountain Ranch. Ranch owners Bill Fales and Marj Perry inked a deal with the Colorado Water Trust that would pay them to reduce diversions from the Helms Ditch when the river needs water. CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

Second agreement

This is the second attempt at the voluntary non-diversion agreement. The timing and conditions during the original three-year agreement, signed in 2018, never worked out. 2018 saw flows that were so low that turning off the Helms Ditch would not have made a difference; 2019’s big snowpack meant flows never dipped low enough to trigger the agreement until October, which was not a month included in the original deal; and in the drought year of 2020 Cold Mountain Ranch could not spare any water.

“Three years is not exactly a huge data sample, so we are still optimistic we can get the project to work,” Meyer Gould said.

This time around, the Water Trust is offering Fales and Perry more money to encourage them to retime the irrigation: $250 for each cfs, compared to $175 last time, plus the $5,000 signing bonus, when there was no such incentive attached to the 2018 agreement.

“It’s considerable time and effort on their part,” Meyer Gould said. “We wanted to show appreciation for the thought and effort that has gone into it on the part of Cold Mountain Ranch.”

Pitkin County also had to approve the agreement because it is the co-owner of a conservation easement on the property, which limits development, preserves open space and keeps the water rights tied to the land.

During negotiations for the original agreement, Pitkin County Attorney John Ely voiced concerns about abandonment: If Fales produced the same amount of hay using less water than he historically had, could the unused portion of his water right be subject to Colorado’s “use-it-or-lose-it” principle?

But Cold Mountain Ranch’s water rights are protected. Senate Bill 19, signed in 2013, provides abandonment protection if the water rights are enrolled in an approved conservation program, such as the agreement with the Water Trust.

Also, instead of reducing his total annual water use like with most agriculture conservation programs, Fales will simply shift the timing of his diversions to align with the Crystal’s needs. Ely said his concerns have been worked out.

“It’s not a classic situation where you have a dry-up of an ag property,” Ely said. “It really does protect his operations.”

As demands for water increase across the Colorado River basin and climate change shrinks the amount available, Fales recognizes something’s got to give. And with agricultural users at the center of water issues, they should participate in finding creative solutions.

“It’s not going to be simple,” Fales said. “But we would rather be at the table than on the plate.”

This story ran in The Aspen Times and the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent.

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

Advocacy and science work together to improve water quality in Coal Creek

By

KBUT Community Radio

-

July 14, 2022

Ashley Bembenek tests Ph levels in Coal Creek. Maltarich/KBUT. — *Ashley Bembenek tests Ph levels in Coal Creek. Stephanie Maltarich/KBUT.*

By Stephanie Maltarich

Listen here.

Following a legacy of mining, local organizations keep tabs on water quality. Maintaining healthy waters in Crested Butte is critical as a headwaters source of the Colorado River.

The streams, creeks and rivers that run from jagged mountains into Crested Butte’s watersheds are iconic. At a glance, the water in creeks and streams around the area are clear and pristine. But the legacy of mining tells a different story.

About two decades ago, High Country Conservation Advocates, an environmental nonprofit in Crested Butte, noticed that although the streams and creeks flowing into town looked relatively healthy, they were carrying an excess of heavy metals downstream. Since then, the local nonprofit has made protecting water central to their work.

*Tools used for testing water quality along Coal Creek. Maltarich/KBUT.*

Julie Nania has spent nearly a decade with the organization advocating for clean water as the water program director. She explained the water in the valley used to look different.

“For a long time, Coal Creek ran Fanta orange,” Nania said.

Coal Creek, which provides drinking water for the town, was stained from mining runoff containing iron. Other metals like silver, lead, zinc and copper also ended up in waterways. The tainted water could be traced back to the flanks of Mt. Emmons, just west of town.

“And with the passage of the Clean Water Act, we did get a mine water treatment plant up there,” said Nania. “But we still had some of these historic water quality issues in the valley.”

The Clean Water Act passed in 1972, and one of its goals was to keep pollutants, like mine waste, out of rivers. In mountain basins with mineral-rich rocks, it’s normal for some metals to wash downstream during spring snowmelt or summer rainstorms — but the water in Coal Creek was clearly toxic.

The Keystone and Standard mines were the two biggest culprits in polluting Coal Creek. Today, Mt. Emmons Mining Company owns the Keystone Mine and operates the water treatment facility up Kebler Pass. Because the mine operated for nearly 100 years, the company is responsible for testing and treating water.

Calling attention to the Standard Mine’s impact on water led to its designation as a Superfund Site in 2005. Declaring the site an environmental disaster helped get the necessary resources to clean up the site. It helped start a water monitoring program and a new nonprofit: The Coal Creek Watershed Coalition.

On a chilly April morning, staff and volunteers spread out along Kebler Pass for a water sampling day. Ashley Bembenek is the executive director and she’s also a water and soil scientist who isn’t afraid to slip on waders and stand in cold rivers in the name of clean water.

“So this is where the town’s water system begins,” said Bembenek. “And it’s just upstream of the Keystone Mine discharge. And that’s incredibly critical to the safety of our drinking water and to manage the treatment costs.”

The nonprofit holds water sampling days five times a year. Each group spreads out to different sections of Coal Creek with a flow meter, water quality probes and water quality testing kits. While walking up Kebler Pass, Bembenek points out the water treatment plant above and Coal Creek below.

We carefully walk down a short and steep hill to Coal Creek where Bembenek sets up her instruments on a level platform she carefully digs out in the snow. She’s here to test for three things. First, she wades into the creek to measure streamflow. Then she pops sensors into the water to measure things like temperature and ph levels.

“So today’s water is a frigid 0.9 degrees celsius, flowing just above freezing, the ph today is 7.03 which is, nearly neutral, no concern whatsoever,” said Bembenek.

Last, she tests for water quality by squirting water through small filters into squishy plastic bottles. She’ll send these samples to a lab in Steamboat Springs to test for 30 different metals.

A river’s health depends on who or what uses it. Human life, irrigation and aquatic life are all examples of users. Bembenek says the water sampled in Coal Creek is tested for the most sensitive of users – fish and insects.

*Ashley Bembenek clears snow along Coal Creek. Maltarich/KBUT.*

“So the standard to protect aquatic life is 10 times more sensitive than the standard to protect human life,” said Bembenek. “So what makes the Clean Water Act so cool, is that by picking the most sensitive use, you protect all of the other uses.”

Bembenek said while the water in Coal Creek is plenty safe for humans to drink following treatment, a few metals remain too high for fish and insects during spring and summer runoff.

The organization will monitor Coal Creek four more times in 2022 to keep tabs on water quality in and around Crested Butte. And, the coalition is embarking on a new initiative, the gossan restoration project, where they will plant trees and restore native vegetation. The project, ten years in the making, will further decrease metals flowing into Coal Creek.

Healthy water flowing from the mountains is essential for the roughly 40 million people who depend on water in the Colorado River Basin. Julia Nania says it’s an important responsibility.

“So in terms of being a headwaters community, usually that means we get to start off with some of the best quality waters, there are some exceptions to that,” said Nania. “Sometimes historic mining tends to be one of the issues we face in this basin But we also are, you know, kind of the first stewards of those water resources.”

Nania says High Country Conservation Associates will continue to use science to inform their work to make sure the Gunnison Valley gets the highest quality water the basin deserves.

KBUT’s Headwaters series was made possible by The Water Desk, an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. We’re an initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. We maintain a strict editorial firewall between our funders and our journalism.

Water Desk offers support for coverage of Colorado River Basin

By

The Water Desk

-

July 13, 2022

The Central Arizona Project crosses the Sonoran Desert just north of Bouse, Arizona. Photo by Ted Wood/The Water Desk

The Water Desk is now accepting applications for grants of $2,500 to $10,000 to support media outlets and individual journalists covering water issues related to the Colorado River Basin.

The deadline for applications for the 2022 grants is Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at 11:59 pm Pacific.

This grantmaking program is only open to journalists (freelance and staff) and media outlets.

The Water Desk is interested in supporting a wide variety of media and journalistic approaches: newspapers, magazines, websites, video, television, radio, podcasts and other channels.

The Water Desk will support journalism that focuses on water issues involving the seven states of the Colorado River Basin—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming—as well as the borderlands of Northwest Mexico.

Proposals related to areas that lie outside of the hydrologic boundaries of the Colorado River Basin’s watershed must have a strong connection to the basin and its water resources.

Because water is intertwined with so many issues, we are open to proposals covering a broad spectrum of topics: climate change, biodiversity, pollution, public health, environmental justice, food, agriculture, drinking water, economics, recreation and more. We are especially interested in stories that explore inequities in our water systems.

Funding for these grants comes from the Walton Family Foundation. As a journalistic initiative, The Water Desk maintains a policy of strict editorial independence from our funders, as well as from the University of Colorado Boulder. Funders of The Water Desk have no right to review nor influence stories or other journalistic content that is produced with the support of these grants.

Our grantmaking page has more details about the program. You can apply on this page.

See a list of prior grantees on this page and view their work here.

Questions? Please contact Water Desk Director Mitch Tobin at mitchtobin@colorado.edu.

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Water DeskFollow the water

Water DeskFollow the water

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Second agreement

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