Colorado River District, Gunnison Roundtable update county

Concerns about “eventualities,” condemnation and Colorado River Basin issues

By Katherine Nettles

Gunnison County is looking at ways to participate in and support overall river management plans within its own boundaries and within those of neighboring counties and river basins that can indirectly affect Gunnison County residents.

Colorado River Water Conservation District (CRWCD) board member Bill Trampe spoke to the county commissioners this past fall on behalf of the neighboring river district. Kathleen Curry, the chairman of the Gunnison Basin Roundtable, also spoke with commissioners during that meeting.

Trampe reported that the transfer of ownership of Wolford Mountain reservoir near Kremmling in Grand County occurs on January 1, 2020. “So at that point in time Denver Water gets 40 percent of the ownership,” he said.

Trampe said demand management and drought contingency planning is always front and center for the board, and said the board is frustrated with the state process moving forward and its slowness putting the nine working groups involved in the state water planning process (Colorado’s Water Plan) to work.

The state removed its initial demands that participants in the process sign confidentiality agreements, reported Trampe, but “They have not gotten to work yet.”

He also expressed concern that the make-up of the working groups is not proportionally representational of the Western Slope or of agriculture.

Trampe described issues relating to water resource demand management, with “interests” on the Western Slope trying to make deals with Front Range entities.

Trampe said the district felt that individual groups making those deals could lead to a lot more “working the market and eventual condemnation rather than purchase—meaning condemnation by force rather than a deal between parties. If condemnation starts, I think that’s going to ruin everything.”

The solution, he said, is to work together with Western Slope entities and keep a strong base in the river district to negotiate more collectively. “If there’s one pot of money under state control to pay for demand management, then that’s the way it ought to be. There shouldn’t be individual groups out there doing their own thing.”

County commissioner John Messner asked if there’s been discussion among river districts about a de-Gallagherizing measure to open up current tax funding constraints. De-Gallagherizing refers to ballot measures that freeze the residential property tax rate as a way to stabilize budgets of rural governments.

Messner asked if the CRWCD has an opinion on whether a measure will address special districts such as this one.

“We considered a ballot issue for this fall, but didn’t think we were ready,” replied Trampe. He said the reason to wait was to start more outreach to the public in terms of what the districts are and what they do beforehand. He said the districts are hoping to do this in 2020.

“Whether it’s de-Gallagherization, or TABOR issues, we’re still trying to decide. But yes, we’re going to do something. We’ve got to do something,” he said.

Looking to support a water survey on the Crystal River basin

Commissioner Jonathan Houck reported that during a fall Gunnison Basin Roundtable meeting, members discussed the Upper Crystal River watershed at length.

That watershed has an application in with the state to conduct a water study, because the 2018 drought demonstrated that several subdivisions in that basin, some of which are in Gunnison County, had no water plan or storage without the Crystal River’s regular flow.

The Water Supply Reserve Fund (WSRF) is managing that application, and the Gunnison Roundtable considered and ultimately decided on drafting a letter of support.

“This is the Colorado River Basin, so it’s not in our basin,” said Houck. “But when you look at the West Divide Water Conservancy District, that’s Garfield, Pitkin … and essentially, [in a drought] the junior water users on that stretch of the Crystal can leave a lot of users without access to their wells.” He said the area is looking at more storage potential and a better handle on supply and demand for the area. He also reported that baseline data from Denver Water shows that municipal water use is going down, “which is a good thing.”

Curry noted that a project in a different river basin asking an adjacent roundtable to write a letter is “a little out of the ordinary. So that threw our roundtable a little bit, wondering if that was even the right role. But I put it on our agenda since, if it involved looking at storage feasibility near Marble, in Gunnison County, I thought [commissioners] might be interested in that,” said Curry.

Houck responded that the county should send a message as well. “We want to see good, thoughtful water planning per all residents within the county. Due to the size and geography of our county we actually span two watersheds. And it’s important for us to advocate for that but understand that the funding needs to come from the appropriate basin,” he said.

The Colorado Basin Roundtable includes the six counties that intersect the Colorado River between its headwaters to the Utah state line: Grand, Summit, Pitkin, Eagle, Garfield and Mesa. The commissioners agreed they want to support that process for their neighbor, and during a trip to Marble in October, they discussed it with the town council and constituents there as well.

Last, Curry said that the roundtable is preparing to submit a Basin Implementation Plan (BIP) in contribution to Colorado’s Water Plan, and that will include an updated project list. “This is our opportunity to change our project list,” she suggested, with additions or deletions as appropriate. The roundtable formed a subcommittee to begin the process, and its first meeting was this fall.