WASHINGTON – In a speech on the U.S. Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., proposed an amendment to the Senate budget aimed at protecting privately held water rights and permits.
The amendment, which passed later in the day 59-41, would recognize the authority to manage water according to state law and protect against federal takeover of water rights and permits.
“Unfortunately, whether it is the Forest Service, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, other agencies have continued to seek their ways to impose a water right at the federal level without going through the same channels and the same water-law system that other people in Colorado do,” Gardner said in his speech. “People who are by right, by law and by our Constitution have the rightful ownership of Colorado water rights and water permits.
“This amendment protects communities, businesses, recreationists, farmers and ranchers that rely on these privately held water rights and permits from federal takings. The amendment recognizes the long-standing authority to manage water according to our state law.”
Steve Harris of Harris Water Engineering in Durango on Thursday told The Cortez Journal he believes the amendment is a good idea, as problems have persisted with ski resorts that lease federal land.
“It is quite a big issue,” Harris said. “The Forest Service is requiring that the ski areas turn over water rights to the Forest Service to maintain their water permits.” Forest Service officials have argued that transferring water rights to the federal government would ensure that the necessary water is provided for winter recreation.
They have contended that if the necessary amount of water no longer is available, the economic effects would be devastating.
Harris added that bypass flow requirements for permits on the Forest Service’s land also have hurt water-rights holders.
“They don’t get nearly as much water afterwards,” said Harris. “Rather than getting a bigger flow from rivers, they get only a little bit of flow.”
Michael Cipriano is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Cortez Journal.
