Water Congress Comes Up Dry On Funds For Colorado Water Plan

COLORADO – By John Herrick for The Colorado Independent. When Gov. Jared Polis took office in January, he took responsibility for ensuring that Colorado doesn’t run out of water. Many in the water community were thrilled when Polis said in his State of the State address that he wants to find a “sustainable funding source” to finally implement the far-reaching Colorado Water Plan.

But, weeks later, many of those water experts are still wondering where the money will come from. Some hope that Polis, who has made funding all-day kindergarten and health care programs a priority, still cares about water.

The opening day luncheon at this year’s Water Congress in Westminster was dedicated entirely to the subject of how to fund the water plan, a lengthy manifesto finalized in 2015 intended to prevent projected water shortfalls in 2050. The plan calls for building infrastructure projects to prevent unnecessary water loss, like lining irrigation ditches, and to store additional water, including building reservoirs. It also calls for expanding a program that allows farmers to temporarily lease their water to the state to keep rivers flowing.

Polis requested about $30 million this year to help pay for the water plan, among other water costs. But in addition to the money already spent on water projects in Colorado, the plan requires another $100 million per year to fully implement.

“We can’t nickel and dime this thing,” Russ George, a member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board from Rifle, told a group of attorneys, water managers, state officials and environmental groups gathered in the Westin hotel’s ballroom on Wednesday. “We’ve got to have real money.”

John Stulp, the water advisor for former Gov. John Hickenlooper, added that cost estimates for implementing the plan could rise. “What if we go into recession? What if we get into higher population growth than we’ve predicted? What if we get into a hotter climate?”

There has been talk about funding the water plan for years. And this past year, two philanthropies, the Gates Family Foundation (as in Gates Rubber Company) and the Walton Family Foundation, which funds other water causes, began working to make funding a priority this legislative session. Then, in 2020, the two want to back a ballot measure seeking a tax increase. It could include a variety of taxes, like one on tourism, bottles or sports betting.

Still, there is a general sense of unease about going to the ballot given voters this past year rejected two high-profile tax increases that would have paid for popular causes, including K-12 schools and transportation.

Related: One Tribal Nation Could Decide The Fate Of Arizona’s Drought Plan

READ MORE in The Colorado Independent.

USDA aerial view of drought-affected Colorado farm lands near Wiggins. Green areas are irrigated; yellow areas are dryland wheat crops. (Photo by Lance Cheung, Creative Commons:Flickr)