A Yampa River runs through it

Water district floats 227-mile pipeline plan

Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 23, 2007 at midnight

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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS - Colorado's Yampa River could deliver millions of gallons of fresh, clear water to the Front Range and other water- strapped areas via a $4 billion, 227-mile pipeline.

The ambitious undertaking would create one of the largest, most expensive water projects the state has ever witnessed.

It could also help provide enough water for Coloradans through much of the next century, according to the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District.

The district serves such cities as Greeley, Fort Collins, Louisville and Boulder, as well as thousands of farmers.

"Whether this will or should be built is a decision that is going to have to be made by the state as a whole," said Eric Wilkinson, Northern's manager. "What we're trying to do right now is plant seeds for thought.

"There are a lot of questions still to be answered."

Wilkinson's comments came during a tour of the Yampa River Basin by lawmakers Wednesday.

Colorado cities - like others in western states - are searching farther and farther from home for new water supplies.

Environmental impact

"Ten to 15 years ago you would have never looked at something like this because of the cost," Wilkinson said.

But thanks to drought and growth, water prices across the state have skyrocketed, making long-distance transport of water more economically appealing than it once was.

Under this proposal, a pipeline would draw water from the Yampa River at Maybell, a tiny community roughly 75 miles west of Steamboat Springs. The water would be stored in a large reservoir and then pumped back across the state, offering opportunities for mountain tourist towns and Front Range suburbs to tap in.

Northern estimates that roughly 300,000 acre-feet of water could be taken from the Yampa annually while protecting endangered fish and maintaining healthy stream flows.

But no one knows yet whether that much water could be taken without harming other water users on the Yampa and the Colorado River.

The Yampa is a tributary of the Colorado.

The state hopes to complete a study of that issue by March 2009.

In addition, West Slope communities, long used by Front Range cities as a water source, are deeply worried that such a massive project might cause more harm than good.

Keeping an open mind

Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs, in Routt County, said he is interested in the idea because it could help water-short mountain counties such as Grand and Summit.

"We have a lot of water here," he said. "We're pretty sensitive about it.

Northern complains about drying up agriculture on the Front Range.

"But is it OK to dry up ag land over here? I would say not just no, but hell no."

Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, said he's "trying to keep an open mind."

"But I wonder what would happen if we spent that much money on conservation. I think we may be missing opportunities to (take) the low-hanging fruit first."

Northern's proposal comes as the state pushes to finish a collaborative planning process designed to ease tensions between the West Slope and the Front Range by ensuring that everyone gets a say in new water projects and that small, rural communities aren't shorted as the urban corridor races to find its own supplies.

West Slope communities such as Winter Park, Granby and Vail also need more water and have few options for developing supplies because cities laid claim to mountain streams decades ago.

The Yampa pumpback is one of several proposals being floated throughout the state.

Others include plans to transfer farm water back and forth between cities, something Colorado has never done on a large scale.

Farmers control about three-quarters of the water in the state, but much of it is of poor quality and would also require massive pipelines to transport.

Another proposal, by Fort Collins entrepreneur Aaron Million, would buy water from the federally owned Flaming Gorge Reservoir, near the Wyoming-Utah border, and pipe it across southern Wyoming and down the Front Range.

smithje@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5474

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