WATER AND GROWTH IN COLORADO A REVIEW OF LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES by Peter D. Nichols, Megan K. Murphy, and Douglas S. Kenney Natural Resources Law Center University of Colorado School of Law © Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law, 2001 The mission of the Natural Resources Law Center is to “promote sustainability in the rapidly changing American West by informing and influencing natural resource laws, policies, and decisions.” Peter D. Nichols, J.D. Megan K. Murphy, J.D. Douglas S. Kenney, Ph.D. (Project Manager) Maps and figures by Thomas Dickinson, except where otherwise noted. Cover photo: Cheesman Canyon, near Deckers, Colorado (photo by Douglas Kenney). Natural Resources Law Center University of Colorado School of Law Campus Box 401 Boulder, CO 80309-0401 (303) 492-1272 (303) 492-1297 Fax Email: [email protected] Web: www.Colorado.Edu/Law/NRLC/ Please direct substantive inquiries to Doug Kenney ([email protected], 303-492-1296) ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................................................viii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................ix Overview of the Report..............................................................................................................ix Water Issues in Colorado: Major Themes..................................................................................ix Trans-Basin Diversions.........................................................................................................ix Environmental Protection ...................................................................................................... x Water Quality........................................................................................................................xi Interstate Obligations ............................................................................................................xi Responses and Strategies ...........................................................................................................xi New Development................................................................................................................xii Reallocation .........................................................................................................................xii Conservation and Efficiency...............................................................................................xiii The Challenge Ahead...............................................................................................................xiii SECTION I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ..................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Life After Two Forks................................................................................................ 1 The New West............................................................................................................................. 1 The Big Boom........................................................................................................................ 2 A New Nexus Between Population and Growth? .................................................................. 4 The Urbanized West............................................................................................................... 5 Climatic Considerations......................................................................................................... 7 The Colorado Water Supply Infrastructure................................................................................. 9 Early Water Development...................................................................................................... 9 Federal Water Projects......................................................................................................... 11 Trans-Basin Municipal Water Projects ................................................................................ 11 Proposed Water Projects ...................................................................................................... 13 Recent Investigations in Colorado: A Summary....................................................................... 15 Denver Basin and South Platte River Basin Technical Study, SB 96-074........................... 15 Metropolitan Water Supply Investigation............................................................................ 16 Water for Tomorrow, Integrated Resource Plan .................................................................. 16 MetroVision 2020 ................................................................................................................ 16 Colorado Water Development Study prepared for the Colorado Farm Bureau...................17 SECWCD/Arkansas Basin Future Water and Storage Needs Assessment ..........................17 Projected Municipal Water Demands .................................................................................. 18 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 20 Chapter Two: Legal Framework for Water Management: A Primer ............................................ 21 The Basics of Prior Appropriation ............................................................................................ 21 The Uneasy Coexistence of State and Federal Law.................................................................. 23 iii Colorado Water Law .................................................................................................................27 Administrative Arrangements ..............................................................................................27 Other Nuances of Colorado Water Law ...............................................................................28 Water Exchanges.............................................................................................................28 The Importance of Foreign Water ...................................................................................29 Conditional Water Rights................................................................................................29 Expansion of Beneficial Use ...........................................................................................29 The Many Forms of Groundwater...................................................................................30 Abandonment of Water Rights........................................................................................31 Interstate Obligations.......................................................................................................32 The Future of Prior Appropriation ............................................................................................34 SECTION II. WATER ISSUES IN COLORADO: MAJOR THEMES ....................................37 Chapter Three: Trans-Basin Diversions ........................................................................................37 A River Runs Through It...........................................................................................................37 Moving Water Across Basins: A Brief History....................................................................37 The Legal Salience of Foreign Water...................................................................................39 The Evolving Politics of Trans-Basin Diversions .....................................................................40 A Legacy of Bitterness and Distrust.....................................................................................40 A Leveling of the Playing Field ...........................................................................................41 A New Model for Trans-Basin Diversions...........................................................................42 The Promise of Eastern Slope Efficiency..................................................................................45 Chapter Four: Environmental Protection.......................................................................................47 Providing Instream Flows Under Colorado Water Law............................................................48 Colorado’s Minimum Stream Flow Program .......................................................................48 Other Strategies for Providing Instream Flows ....................................................................50 The Special Challenge of Recreational Demands ...........................................................52 The Endangered Species Act.....................................................................................................53 Major ESA Recovery Programs in Colorado .......................................................................55 Issues Raised by the Major ESA Recovery Programs in Colorado......................................58 Benefits of Participation..................................................................................................58 Concerns and Complications...........................................................................................59 Federal-State Relations: Dual Sovereignty Revisited.................................................59 The Race to Develop Water Under the PBO..............................................................59 The Unmet Challenge of Fish Recovery ....................................................................60