ASPEN | The state water board will decide next week whether to approve a proposal from the Western Slope that would allow one of the oldest and most powerful water rights on the Colorado River to be used to benefit the environment.
The Colorado Water Conservation Board is set to hear nearly 13 hours of testimony from the Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River Water Conservation District and its supporters, as well as four Front Range water providers, including Aurora, that requested the hearing because they object to certain aspects of the proposal.
All the parties participating in the contested hearing agree that the water rights associated with the Shoshone hydropower plant in Glenwood Canyon are beneficial for the environment and would like to keep this water flowing west. But like many things regarding the Colorado River, the devil is in the details…