Colorado River Update: Congressman Neguse Responds to Your Request to Protect Holy Cross Wilderness!

Hello Friends of the Colorado River!

We have good news, and it is your financial support that keeps the good news coming. Thank you for your past support and please consider donating by clicking here: http://savethecolorado.org/donate/

First, your voice made a difference in our effort to stop the proposed dams in the Holy Cross Wilderness Area in Eagle County, Colorado! We asked you to reach out to Congressman Joe Neguse, and over 1,000 of you sent emails to the Congressman, who responded to us saying that he opposed the changing of the Wilderness Area boundary and had deep concerns about damming Homestake Creek and removing more water from that ecosystem.

“I share your desire to protect the Holy Cross Wilderness and oppose this proposal. I am opposed to making a wilderness boundary adjustment that would reduce lands from the Holy Cross Wilderness, or any wilderness area, and this proposal could remove up to 500 acres of wilderness. I am also concerned about the impact on the environment and the surrounding wetlands from damming the creek and moving water from Homestake Creek.” – Congressman Joe Neguse

We will continue working with Congressman Neguse to do everything we can to stop this horrific dam proposal.

Second, we are extremely excited about our Climate Change Lawsuit Against Glen Canyon Dam! Along with two other environmental groups, we are suing the U.S. Dept of Interior because their 2016 plan to operate Glen Canyon Dam failed to use climate science and consider climate change. In addition, since 2016, the Dept of Interior as well as the Bureau of Reclamation have ignored climate science and the predicted impact it will have on flows of water in the Colorado River.

The Dept. and the Bureau knowingly, willfully, and purposely ignored climate science in the management of Glen Canyon Dam. The lawsuit alleges that the BOR and DOI failed to comply with federal law, specifically the National Environmental Policy Act. The lawsuit demands that BOR and DOI fix these shortcomings by redoing the alternatives analysis in the dam’s management plan and include a full range of alternatives based on predicted climate change-related impacts on the flow of water in the Colorado River. Such a full range must include an alternative that incorporates the decommissioning and removal of Glen Canyon Dam because the projections from the best available climate science indicate there likely will not be sufficient flow in the Colorado River to keep Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam operational.

This is a fun one! We are truly excited to file this lawsuit and push the agencies to take climate change seriously. The lawsuit received national media attention and is still reverberating around the water management world in the Colorado River basin.

Check out our cool new video about this lawsuit on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/savethecolorado/

Third, our other programs fighting proposed dams are moving along well.

• We are in court against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fighting the proposed Windy Gap Firming Project in Colorado. That lawsuit will likely be resolved in the next 3 – 9 months.
• We are in both federal court and state court against the Army Corps and Denver Water fighting the proposed Moffat Collection System Project (Gross Dam expansion) in Boulder County, Colorado.
• We have locked arms with colleagues in Utah against the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline.
• We continue to bird-dog other proposed dams in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. As soon as they enter the permitting process, we will pounce on them with our team of attorneys and scientists.
• We are preparing to intervene in a new crazy dam proposal on the Little Colorado River just outside of Grand Canyon National Park.

The dam-fighting work in the Colorado River never ends! And, we are on top of every single project. Our policy is “No New Dams and Diversions”, and we are taking it to the wall.

We say it all the time, but it always needs to be repeated: It’s simply insane to be further damming and draining the Colorado River. We’ve held firm to that policy over the last ten years, and our actions back it up with the resources you contribute to us.

THANK YOU for your support! Please donate online by clicking here: http://savethecolorado.org/donate/

Gary Wockner, PhD
Executive Director
Save The Colorado