Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Our water is hot topic

Governor sets Dec. deadline for H20 strategy

DENVER – Gov. John Hickenlooper quelled a rebellion by legislators Thursday against his call to develop a Colorado Water Plan.

Hickenlooper has set a December deadline for completing the state’s first-ever water strategy. But legislators, led by Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, were worried about Hickenlooper’s use of executive power on the state’s most important resource, water.

Roberts’ Senate Bill 115 would have required legislative approval of the Colorado Water Plan. But Roberts and her allies backed down Thursday and changed their bill to require public hearings and reports to the Legislature. The plan will no longer require legislative approval.

The Legislature has outsourced water policy for decades, starting in the 1930s, when it created the Colorado Water Conservation Board. In 2005, it set up a system of roundtables in each major river basin to begin working toward a state strategy.

Those roundtables have been working for eight years, and last year, Hickenlooper pushed the roundtables to come up with a state plan by the end of 2014.

Roberts said more people need to be involved.

“We think that all of Colorado should be involved in the discussion of what goes into the state water plan,” Roberts said.

However, defenders of the roundtables say they have brought together all sorts of water users who used to be enemies, and more people than ever are now involved in crafting water policy.

“We need to realize that eight years of hard work has gone into the water plan already,” said Rep. Mike McLachlan, D-Durango, in a Wednesday interview.

McLachlan said he supports Roberts’ bill, but he doesn’t want the water plan to turn into a turf war between the Legislature and Hickenlooper.

Roberts sponsored her bill with Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, and the chairs of the House and Senate agriculture committees, Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, and Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village.

The Senate Agriculture Committee passed the scaled-down bill 6-1 Thursday.

jhanel@durangoherald.com



Reader Comments