Summit County Citizens Voice

The Green River in southwestern Wyoming. PHOTO COURTESY USGS.

Opposition to proposed Regional Water Supply Project continues to build

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Just a few days after conservation groups filed their comments against the proposed Flaming Gorge Reservoir pipeline, the Colorado River District has also gone on record as formally opposing the project with a a motion to intervene.

According to the River District’s motion, the project is speculative and, thus far, none of the projected users have shown an ability to pay for the expensive project.

The 560-mile pipeline, formally called the Regional Water Supply Project, could potentially transport up to 250,000 acre feet of water from the Green River Basin in Wyoming to the Colorado Front Range.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is in the early stages of reviewing the project for its possible power-generation aspects.

But the pipeline could interfere with current allocations of water in the Colorado River Basin, according to the River District.

“The volume of water at issue would adversely impact existing users of Colorado’s entitlement to the waters of the Colorado River, and could usurp the remainder of the state’s compact allocation,” the River District wrote in its motion to intervene.

Although the water would be taken out of the Colorado River system from the Green River, a tributary with Wyoming headwaters, under the Colorado River Compact of 1922, the amount still counts against Colorado’s limited ability to use the river.

The River District also said the pipeline threatens the ability of the Colorado River District, the state of Colorado and other public entities to plan for the development of the state’s remaining entitlement to the Colorado River in a “responsibly conservative matter.”

Other objections include:

• The need first for the Colorado Water Conservation Board to complete its Colorado River Water Availability Study;
• The need for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to complete is Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study;
• The need for Colorado’s West Slope to finalize its own consumptive and nonconsumptive studies; and
• The need for there to be interstate and intrastate agreements on how the water would be managed under the Prior Appropriation System.

There's not a lot of love for aproposed 560-mile pipeline to carry water from the Green River in Wyoming to the Colorado Front Range.

Conservation and recreation groups filing comments during the initial review phase by FERC said the pipeline would be far too expensive and would harm the Green River’s world-class recreation and tourism economies, businesses and river advocates said today.

American Rivers, American Whitewater, and the Colorado River Outfitters Association called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny the preliminary permit application for the massive water project.

“This pipeline is so costly it would result in the most expensive water in Colorado’s history,” said Matt Rice, Colorado conservation director for American Rivers. “A project of this size, cost, and environmental impact is simply not feasible. And, we have cost effective alternatives for meeting future water demands on the Front Range. FERC should deny this permit and not waste taxpayer dollars studying a project that will never get built.”

“We ask that FERC take a close look at all relevant information regarding the proposed project as they make a decision on the preliminary permit application,” said Nathan Fey, Director of the Colorado River Stewardship Program for American Whitewater.  “American Whitewater maintains the belief that the project is not feasible, has not proven its compliance with the Endangered Species Act or the Record of Decision on Flaming Gorge Operations, nor is it in the public interest. We are asking FERC to deny the preliminary permit application for these reasons.”

“The Green River is currently a very fragile component of the Colorado River system. Colorado River Outfitters firmly believe that any further compromise of this precious resource would have a devastating effect on the entire river system and on the communities that depend on it,” said Tom Kleinschnitz, chairman of the Colorado River Outfitters Association.

The project costs are estimated to exceed $6 billion, with water costs over $4500 per acre-foot per year.

The Green River is the largest tributary of the Colorado River, and carves some of the most iconic river canyons in the West, such as Lodore Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument, Desolation-Gray Canyons, and Stillwater Canyon in Canyonlands National Park. The Green River sustains world-class recreation and tourism economies, endangered fish species, and critical riverside habitats in the Green and Colorado River basins.

Filed under: Colorado, energy, Environment, rivers, Summit County news, water Tagged: | Aaron Million, Colorado River Distirct, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Flaming Gorge pipeline, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, rivers, water