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Colorado voters won’t have a chance to update Colorado’s broken water laws at the ballot box this year.
Grassroots effort to revise state’s outdated prior appropriations system falls short, as backers fall short of gathering required signatures
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — An attempt to fundamentally alter Colorado water law via the petition process fizzled this week, as backers of the proposed initiatives 3 and 45 withdrew their bid for lack of enough signatures.
One of the ballot measures would have applied the public trust doctrine to water in Colorado, declaring that unappropriated water in natural streams is public property, dedicated to the use of the people of the state.
The public trust ballot measure would also have clarified the public’s right to access streams and rivers.
The second measure would have have put limits on diversions to protect the public’s interest in water, prohibiting diversions “that would irreparably harm the public ownership interest in water.” (more…)
Filed under: Colorado, rivers, water | Tagged: Colorado, Colorado Supreme Court, prior appropriations, public trust doctrine, water | Leave a Comment »
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