The San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) has been dealing, this past year, with a local “water rights” issue… whether to continue defending its “junior” water rights for a potential West Fork Reservoir and West Fork Canal… or attempt to sell the rights… or abandon the rights as impractical or worthless.
When I’m attempting to understand a complex issue, one of my favorite activities is to research the topic and then write a Daily Post essay about the subject. The act of publishing a public editorial, and thus facing possible criticism, lends a certain kind of weight to the work.
Because the West Fork issue is one such complex, I invited the other five SJWCD board members to research and write an essay on the topic, so that Daily Post readers could get a range of perspectives on this local question. Last night, our board President, Al Pfister, sent us the following essay, titled “Colorado Water”.
I am President/Chair of the San Juan Water Conservancy District. The content of this article is reflective of my perspective on Colorado water issues, and not necessarily that of the District or any other Board members. I have spent the past 39 years as a fish and wildlife biologist/natural resources manager dealing with water related issues in the western US, the last 21 of which were spent on the Western Slope, and 4 on the Front Range.
Undoubtedly, water management is an extremely complex issue. A lot can be said for the adage “Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting”. The manner in which water is used is governed by the Colorado Constitution and law of Prior Appropriation Doctrine. That doctrine can be described as “The system prioritizes use of water based upon who used water first. Those who put water to beneficial use first retain the senior right to continue using that water before newer users. First in time – first in right.”
This doctrine comes more into play when we face water shortages, which are becoming more and more frequent.
Overwhelming science points to the fact that we are facing a warmer and drier climate in our future. The cause(s) of our warming and drying climate are debated, although the weight of scientific evidence points that the cause(s) are human induced. The vast majority of scientifically based models predict our warming and drying climate, the severity of which depends on the model being used. The main point is that we continue to emphasize how we are going to prepare ourselves with our warming and drying future, instead of focusing on the preciseness of those models.
The Colorado Water Plan (the Plan), signed in 2015, acknowledges the uncertain future we face in knowing how much water we will have to use for whatever water use is our most preferred. The Plan lays the foundation for how we, as a State, will approach our future water challenges, under varying climate change scenarios, with different population growth scenarios. It provides for input from each of the Basins so that individual needs and demands that are unique to each of the basins and sub-basins.
Does that mean we will agree with unanimity on solutions? Probably not, but I believe we can come to consensus using the best available science and considering what the best solution is for the most users.
The Plan was developed through an iterative process in conjunction with the State’s nine ’roundtables’ over many years. The Plan, through the efforts of the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), numerous contractors and the State roundtables, is currently being revised utilizing more data collected, incorporating more local experience and lessons learned since its first publication.
Some people believe the water industry is comprised of “alarmists” or are fear generating folks who want us to believe our water future is so precarious that we should be “scared”. I believe the water industry is all of us, and that we all need water for whatever occupation we are in – be it a rancher, stay-at-home mom or dad, motel/hotel owner, recreationist, or angler. I believe we should look at the weight of scientific evidence that we need to be proactive and see how we can best prepare for a warming and drying future, and not wait for a Colorado River compact call, or three or so years of severe drought. The CWCB, the State entity charged with managing the public’s water via the roadmap laid out in the State Water Plan, is currently looking at the feasibility of demand management as one of the potential options for meeting future water demands and needs.
Or, how do we meet the future projected gap between water supply and demand?
Speaking of future water supply and demand, the District is currently in the process of what we should do with our West Fork of the San Juan conditional water rights. We hired the Wilson Water Group to develop some alternatives as to how we can best utilize, economically and within Colorado water law, those water rights for the benefit of the District’s agricultural, municipal, environmental, and recreational users. Their draft final report is posted on our website and we invite you to provide input on what you think we should do with those water rights to best serve the interests of the District’s taxpayers. You can provide your thoughts to me at apfister.sjwcd@gmail.com or by attending our next meeting via Zoom (agenda and meeting specifics will be posted on our website sjwcd.org).