After a long summer of drought and enormous wildfires, western slope water is top of mind for many. In January, the Biden administration pledged $40 million to the Western Slope’s purchase of the Shoshone Water Rights in Glenwood Canyon; it was withdrawn that same month by the Trump administration. Congressman Jeff Hurd was questioned during a recent telephone town hall about the long contested-Shoshone water right.
Caller: What role do you expect to take in the upcoming negotiations over Shoshone water rights between the Front Range and Western Colorado? It was flying along pretty well. Of course one of the things you, I'm sure you're working on, is whether or not that the federal funding comes in for that. But now that some big water groups on the Eastern slope have stepped in and are, in some cases, contesting the statistics around the water flows. It looks like this is going to be one more complicated thing to deal with about something that I hope goes right.
Hurd: Water is so essential and important to our way of life. The Colorado River Basin, which is in our district. It actually starts over a little bit over in the next congressional district.
But most of the water that's in the Colorado River Basin comes from Colorado's Third Congressional district, our district, and it's relied on not just by people that live here in Colorado, but by 40 million Americans. And so the water issue that you're talking about, something that's really, really important, and for those of you that haven't heard of the Shoshone water right.
Xcel Energy, if you're driving on I-70, and it's the place where they have the, the put out for, or the put in, I should say, for the white water rafting right around where the Glenwood Tunnel is, there's a power plant that's there, and that's owned by Xcel Energy. And the reason that it's important is because there's a really, really old and important water right that's associated with it that Xcel Energy is trying to sell to the Colorado River District. And that's important because if we keep that water right, then we can protect agriculture, we can set and protect recreation, we can protect endangered fish species. All of the people, those 40 million people that will rely on the Colorado River get that support from that Shoshone water right.
And so to answer your question, James, I'm working really hard to make sure that we get $40 million to pay for that water right and that we get to keep it in Western Colorado, and we keep that water on the Western slope and we're able to deliver that water to the people that need it and use it and also work hard against folks on the front range.
You're exactly right. I would, I always say, James, I'd rather grow crops in Western Colorado than houses in Denver. And, um, we need to make sure that we protect that water right and reduce the number of diversions over to Denver. And we need to fight hard in court. We're doing that exactly right now.
You made a reference to some dispute that's happening in, in, um, in a water court or water forum about how big that Shoshone water right is. I think it's bigger than the front range says it is. They're obviously incentivized to make it small. We need to keep more of that water over here in the Western Slope. There's an entity called the Colorado River District that's fighting for us in court. And we need to make sure that we support them and I'll, and I'll do everything I can to make sure that that water right, the Shoshone water right is big, that it has a lot of water, and that we keep it on the Western slope for the coming decades.
This is an issue that is part of our Western way of life. And without water, we won't have life. And I'm doing everything I can to make sure that we protect that water right and keep the water over here on the Western slope.
The Shoshone Water Right is the oldest on the Colorado River and currently belongs to XCel Energy. State Senators and County Commissioners alike have publicly urged the Department of the Interior under Doug Burgham to release the funds to the Colorado River District. KDNK will continue to cover ongoing developments around the Shoshone water rights.
