New Colorado water conservation measures a win for both the water user community and the environment

When Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law SB24-197 in ceremonies May 29 at Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs, Colo., the forward-looking water conservation measures signaled a major win for both the water user community and the environment, and showed Colorado as a national leader in its ability to effectively examine and address key issues – in this case, part of the legislation addressed future energy and water needs in northwest Colorado.

In an unusual showing of wide bipartisan support, the new law passed unanimously out of both chambers of the Colorado General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session. It allows utilities in northwestern Colorado to retain their water rights from retiring coal plants through December 2050.

Under current Colorado water law, utilities with ownership in regional power plants including the Craig Generating Station operated by Tri-State, would be faced with abandonment of those water rights, even while they explored new clean energy technologies in the region to replace coal-fired plants. Craig Station is retiring its last unit in September 2028.

“Tri-State prefers to hold on to those water rights as we transition to other generation technologies that also use water, and as we work to meet state mandates for clean energy,” said Jackie Brown, senior water and natural resources policy advisor for Tri-State. “We hope that future dispatchable generation will prove suitable in northwest Colorado, and those facilities will need water. Abandonment or degradation of the quantity of our water rights require Tri-State to purchase expensive water rights in the future and would have been a detriment to our members and other regional energy consumers, by significantly driving up the cost of any future generation.”

The bill was borne from water policy discussions by the Colorado River Drought Task Force in 2023. Lawmakers had created the task force through legislation in 2023, in response to worsening water issues in the state. The 17-member task force met for six months in 2023, traveling throughout the state to solicit public comment on how to protect the Colorado River and other state water interests. Tri-State worked for months with stakeholders to ensure the concept had support from local water users and managers, and that of state environmental and recreational organizations.  

The task force released two dozen recommendations for new policies and programs in December 2023, including additional protections for environmental and agricultural water, and a waiver of matching requirements for grant funding for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

As a member appointed to the task force, Brown noted that the new law maintains the status quo. The unused water will remain in rivers and streams, and will be used by downstream communities, farmers and ranchers, and other water users. The new law comes with additional restrictions, such as prohibiting utilities from selling water out of state.

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Summit County, and Sen. Perry Will, R-New Castle, and by Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose. Sen. Roberts recently told the Craig (Colorado) Daily Press that the new law will allow utilities to pursue alternative energy development as they transition away from coal.

“That means we will keep water in the Yampa River to benefit Steamboat and every community on the river, benefit our agriculture community and hopefully one day, it will mean we have clean energy develop and we keep those jobs here in the Yampa Valley,” Sen. Robert told the Daily Press.

“As of today, we’ve made some great strides in protecting our water resources,” Speaker McCluskie told the Daily Press, in addressing the task force’s efforts. “Before we take the next step, we need to chat with other water leaders and think about how the legislature can play the right role.”