Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, September 29, 2024- A shrinking water supply is always a concern in western Colorado.
The Colorado River District’s annual water seminar — a gathering of water managers, agricultural producers and elected officials — acts as group therapy. Everyone articulates their worst fears. But it drives urgency to come up with pro-active approaches to conserving water and preserving a regional way of life built around irrigated agriculture.
There’s been a lot of talk in 2024 of “meeting the moment” of a hotter, drier climate that depletes water resources at an accelerating pace. For the most part, water officials are doing just that.
From girding for negotiations around Colorado River operations post-2026 to the pooling of resources to acquire the historic Shoshone water rights in Glenwood Canyon to an effort to establish a Mesa County tech hub dedicated to improving the infrastructure and management of the Colorado River, 2024 has been a year of facing fears of water scarcity head on.
The two candidates for the 3rd Congressional District have both made protecting Western Slope water a priority in their campaign platforms.
But one of the most assuring developments just happened last week with the release of the Colorado West Land Trust’s actionable water plan.
The land trust has a great record of following through on the specific goals it creates in pursuit of its mission. When it became clear that Grand Valley residents wanted more trails and more connectivity, the land trust rallied donors and pursued grants to purchase land and acquire rights of way to enhance recreation in the Monument Road corridor.
Fresh off a $1.8 million fundraising campaign to expand its ability to serve the region, the land trust (in partnership with The Freshwater Trust) has developed a blueprint to integrate land and water conservation efforts and promote sustainable resource management practices.
“This plan represents our goal of viewing water in a more systematic, comprehensive way, and increasing action that we are taking on the ground to benefit our community now and into the future,” the land trust’s executive director, Rob Bleiberg, told the Sentinel’s Dennis Webb.
The plan aims to help strengthen agricultural water supplies, preserve important wildlife habitat and enhance watershed health — in alignment with the state water plan and plans created by water roundtable groups for the Colorado River and Gunnison River basins within the state. The trust’s plan envisions working collaboratively with partners, such as water rights owners, ditch companies and water providers, in pursuing its goals.
The trust wants to “think creatively” and take new approaches. Bleiberg provided two good examples. One is to work on forest restoration with owners of conserved lands on the north slope of Grand Mesa. Such a project would reduce wildfire risk, improve wildlife habitat and protect watersheds from which the Ute Water Conservancy gets water.
Another idea is identify farmers in western Colorado who don’t have heirs wanting to farm but who want to see their land remain available for agriculture. The land trust wants pay them a fair price, implement conservation measures on the farms and then sell them — ideally to young farmers.
This is a way to protect productive agricultural land along with water rights. Investing in more water-focused conservation work — including restoring and enhancing riparian habitats and wetlands to make Western Slope communities more water resilient — is the land trust meeting the moment.
It’s important work that the land trust can’t undertake without the support of the communities it strives to serve.
OCT
2024