Population boom squeezes water supply dry

By Joe Hanel   |   August 10, 2009   |   7:01 AM

Make some room.

Colorado’s population of 5 million is expected to double by 2050, according to a report by a Colorado water agency. And finding enough water for all those people will require billions of dollars in new projects and big changes in Coloradans’ way of life.

Most of the growth is expected on the Front Range, where Arapahoe County alone could exceed 1 million people, surpassing Denver.

The report has received little attention since they were released last week. But for water experts, they added more evidence of the problems that Colorado faces. The numbers are especially troubling for farmers.

Despite the report’s 40-year time frame, the situation could become urgent soon. It often takes decades to build a major water project.

“We have no time to waste,” said Harris Sherman, chairman of the Interbasin Compact Committee, which issued the report.

The legislature set up the committee to help strike a bargain on water between the relatively wet Western Slope and the more populous and drier eastern part of the state. So far, such an agreement is not in sight.

Colorado’s water gap can be filled in three basic ways:

• Buying farm-water rights or sharing between cities and farms.
• Conserving and re-using city water.
• Importing “new water” from the Western Slope.

The third option remains highly unpopular on the Western Slope, where residents still smart over the aborted “Big Straw” to siphon Colorado River water from Grand Junction to Denver. Western Slope legislators even suggested last spring that the Front Range consider building a pipeline from the Mississippi River to Denver instead of looking to the Colorado River Basin.

Can farmers fill the gap? Front Range cities have helped some retire as millionaires when they sell their water rights. But the loss of farms and ranches leaves a hole in the rural economy — a scenario known as “buy and dry.”

“Ag defines us,” said Jim Pokrandt, spokesman for the Colorado River Water Conservation District. “It is the de facto open space, and we value it culturally, even though none of us want to work on a ranch and haul hay around.”

Recreational use of water is taking on greater importance, too, Pokrandt said. Healthy streams are important for fish, for kayakers and for the mountain environment that most Coloradans value no matter where they live, he said.

Colorado River District officials urge Front Range cities to conserve water before they start asking for more from the Western Slope. But Brian Werner, spokesman for the Northern Colorado Water Conservation District said that conservation alone won’t bring enough water for the state’s eastern cities.

“The bottom line is more people are going to be living in urban areas. And if we don’t provide some options, the next option is to buy and dry,” Werner said, adding that most Coloradans don’t understand the trade-off between population growth and healthy farms.

Water experts are waiting for another state government report, due by year’s end, on how much water to expect from the state’s biggest river basin, the Colorado River. Colorado has an 87-year-old agreement with downstream states, but climate change and natural droughts likely will mean less water to divvy up than most people expected.

Metro-area county population projections (with scenarios for low, medium and high growth in 2050)

Source: State Demographer’s Office, Interbasin Compact Committee

Categories: City, Features, Region

Tagged: agriculture, arapahoe county, colorado, colorado river, farms, grand junction, kayakers, population growth, ranches, water