A small hydroelectric power plant on the banks of the Colorado River has inspired a unique coalition in a state where water scarcity and politics often pit environmentalists, growers and recreationists against each other.
Yet those groups recently set aside their competing interests in western Colorado, banding together to safeguard the water rights tied to the squat brown building tucked just off Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon. It still generates power, but its true value has been in the water that flows through it — which just might be the key to the river’s future.
The Shoshone Power Plant is connected to the oldest major water right on the drying and overused Colorado River, which means the plant gets first dibs on water to send through its system when there isn’t enough to go around.
After decades of planning and failed purchase attempts, the Colorado River District — with help from a broad coalition of Western Slope communities and organizations — in December inked a $98.5 million deal with Xcel Energy, the owner of the water rights.
The district’s leaders hope the deal will help keep a consistent flow of water in the river for the future.
Peter Fleming, the general counsel for the district, said of the interests along the river, from agricultural producers to the recreation industry: “Uniformly, across the board, they are in support of protecting the Shoshone flows. It’s pretty unique. People don’t always see eye to eye on water issues.”
Now, the coalition hopes to convince the federal government to pony up about $48 million to finish the deal.
The Shoshone right was inked in 1905. Under Colorado water law, that means it must be fulfilled before any rights established afterward — including rights held by Front Range utilities such as Denver Water.
The plant’s right can command 1,408 cubic feet of water per second, enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool approximately every minute.
The right is non-consumptive, which means that all the water that passes through the power plant returns to the river and continues downstream. Its importance is in the right’s ability to provide a consistent flow of water in the river, no matter how dry the year.
In parched years, enough water must be left in the river to meet that right before the holders of other rights upstream can take out their water. Those rights holders include Denver Water and other utilities that pump water across the Continental Divide to Front Range homes.
If the plant had gone out of use and Xcel kept the water right, it would be at risk of being considered abandoned, Fleming said. When a right is deemed abandoned, it disappears.
Alternatively, another entity could have swept in to buy the valuable right — and then purposefully abandoned it.
If the right were deserted, the river’s levels likely would drop since other users would be able to divert more water out of the river before it hits the power plant, which is seven miles upstream from Glenwood Springs.
Under the agreement with Xcel, as long as the plant is in operation the river district will lease the water back to the utility for free.
As coalition members look to the future, they see water that’s critical for drinking, agriculture, recreation, tourism and as habitat for endangered fish.
The Shoshone plant is old and in a precarious position in the canyon, which in recent years has been affected by rockslides, mudslides and fires. The river district didn’t know how long Xcel would keep it in operation, Fleming said.
“It’s subject to the whims and vagaries of nature,” he said.
The Shoshone Hydroelectric Facility in Glenwood Canyon. The Colorado River District agreed to a deal to buy the major senior water rights associated with the plant from Xcel Energy to protect the instream flows. (Christopher Tomlinson, The Daily Sentinel)
Environmental protection plans exist based on the assumption that the water will be in the river. If the plant’s right were to disappear, those plans likely would need to be rewritten. The flows also keep water temperatures down for endangered fish and keep salinity low in drinking water for towns on the river.
“There’s multiple houses of cards where the Shoshone water rights are one of the bottom cards,” Fleming said.
For agricultural producers in the Grand Valley, the water is crucial for growing Palisade peaches, wine grapes, wheat, corn, hay and alfalfa, said Tina Bergonzini, the general manager of the Grand Valley Water Users Association.
“The Shoshone water right is something that has been important to the Western Slope since I was a child — I remember hearing about it since I was a little kid,” she said.
The association has been involved in the district’s efforts to purchase the rights for at least 12 years, Bergonzini said. Knowing the water will stay in the river gives her peace of mind, she said.
“The Grand Valley has one form of industry — agriculture — and we need it to continue the life that so many of us to enjoy,” she said.
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The consistent flows provided by the Shoshone right also are critical for the $4 billion recreation industry centered on the Colorado River on the Western Slope, according to the river district.
“It’s key to how the river functions,” said Hattie Johnson, the southern Rockies restoration director for American Whitewater.
The cost of the purchase will be divided among local, state and federal agencies. The Colorado River District has pledged $20 million, while a coalition of Western Slope governments will pay $10 million and the Colorado Water Conservation Board has pledged to seek $20 million in state money.
The Ute Water Conservancy District last week committed $2 million.
The river district will pursue the remaining $48 million by seeking federal grants from a pot of money dedicated to drought mitigation in the Inflation Reduction Act.
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