Lawmakers back funding for Shoshone Colorado River water rights purchase

(The Center Square) - Democratic lawmakers from Colorado -- including U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Representatives Joe Neguse, Jason Crow, Brittany Pettersen, and Diana DeGette -- recently wrote to the Bureau of Reclamation to support the Colorado River Water Conservation District’s application to receive federal funding to buy two of the oldest water rights along the Colorado River mainstem in Colorado.

Those water rights are known as the Shoshone Permanency Project.

The lawmakers expressed support as part of an ongoing BOR funding opportunity to provide environmental benefits due to drought.

“The Colorado River District’s mission is to promote the protection, conservation, use, and development of the water resources of the Colorado River water basin for the welfare of the state of Colorado,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter, according to Bennet's office. “Preserving the Colorado River’s historical flow regime as intended by the Shoshone Permanency Project will benefit the Colorado River ecosystem every year, and, especially in dry years.”

Xcel Energy currently holds the 1902 Senior and the 1929 Junior Shoshone Water Rights; it uses them to generate power at the Shoshone Power Plant and return it to the river.

Western Colorado communities have committed over $55 million; they are also applying for funding from the BOR's Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation program for assistance in completing the purchase.

The program is taking applications through November 22, 2024, and the lawmakers welcome other applicants if they want to apply.

“This strong show of funding reflects the local recognition of the Shoshone Water Rights’ importance to the health of western Colorado’s environment and local economies," the lawmakers continued. “We recognize the Shoshone Permanency Project’s complex nature and ongoing technical review, but believe the opportunity to protect historical Colorado River flows deserves your attention.”

As part of the Shoshone Permanency Project, CRWCD wants approval for these rights to include "alternate beneficial use and preserve the historical flow regime," the release said.

"The state process for changing these decreed water rights is distinct from any federal funding review or outcome and will proceed separately," the release said. "As acknowledged in the letter, data collection and analysis related to the Shoshone water rights’ historic use is ongoing and important to the state of Colorado’s formal review."

The Colorado lawmakers also advocated for $8 billion for Western water infrastructure, $10 billion for forests, $19 billion for agricultural conservation, and $4 billion for drought prevention via the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the release said.

"The lawmakers will continue to work with communities and water users across the state to ensure as much of this funding as possible comes to the state of Colorado," the release said.

Read the full letter here .