Colorado Unveils Ambitious Water Plans With Funding Questions

Last year, Governor John Hickenlooper unveiled the first draft of a sweeping plan for the future of water management in Colorado, where shortfalls are expected to hit by 2050.

As details emerge about how the plan will be implemented, stakeholders are looking for answers to a key question: How will funding be allocated?

“While the Colorado Water Plan does not contain a list of water-supply projects endorsed by the state, the plan’s adoption still gives a boost to at least $2 billion worth of potential projects, as recently prioritized by regional water-supply planning committees, or basin roundtables,” the Post Independent reported.

Russell George of the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) gave some hints on how projects will move ahead under the plan. “It’s projects, projects, projects,” he said, per the report. “And our job here is to keep the resources coming for the projects, because that answers need.”

The leaders of Colorado river basins submitted water plans when the draft was created, according to The Denver Post. Implementing plans for basins in Colorado is now a major focal point for the planning process, meaning much of the action, including funding decisions, will take place at the local level, according to the Post Independent:

Consider that the first item in the water plan’s vaunted “critical action plan” says that the state will “support and assist the basin roundtables in moving forward priority … projects … in their basin implementation plans through technical, financial and facilitation support when requested by a project proponent and pertinent basin roundtable.”

An example of a recent funding decision at the local level:

In November, the CWCB approved a three-year $150,000 grant for a part-time public relations coordinator for the Arkansas basin roundtable who will “undertake a structured public relations effort” to generate public acceptance of new water projects and “move these projects forward toward implementation.”

For similar stories, visit Water Online’s Funding Solutions Center.