Secretary Salazar and Governor Ritter do good! Denver Water, not so much.

Hello Friends of the Colorado River!

Some good news!  Please click through to show our support for U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, as he continues his strong leadership recognizing and protecting America’s waterways.  Last week, the highly acclaimed environmental TV News series, This American Land, featured a story about the Colorado River and the dried up Delta where the river no longer meets the sea.  A number of Colorado River heroes are highlighted in the film, which features our friends at Protect The Flows and their great work uniting the business community to protect the river.  Secretary Salazar stated: “Our attitudes about rivers as a public really have changed in the last 25 years where there’s now a recognition that there are values — that are very important values — economic values intrinsic to keeping some water in the flow of the river.”  Click here to “Thank” Secretary Salazar! 

Colorado’s former Governor, Bill Ritter, strikes again!  In his post-governorship, Bill Ritter has become a tireless champion for environmental issues, including for water conservation throughout the Colorado River basin.  A few weeks ago, Governor Ritter starred in a telephone townhall for the organization 90by20.org, highlighting their vision of water conservation.  Now, Governor Ritter has written an editorial for the Denver Post on the same topic.  Governor Ritter points out that while some Colorado cities have done a reasonable job conserving water, others have a long way to go.  Take a read of Governor Ritter’s editorial by clicking here.  Thank You Governor Bill Ritter!

While Colorado’s current and former officials — Salazar and Ritter — are doing good work speaking for the Colorado River and our water resources, the City of Denver and its water utility, Denver Water, are becoming a hindrance.  Denver Water is proposing the “Moffat Collection System Project” that will drain another 18,000 acre feet of water out of the Upper Colorado River and pipe it to Denver residents.  Environmental groups have been trying to negotiate with Denver Water to address the threat of this project, but Denver Water is being a bad actor.  As a response, environmental groups issued a stinging rebuke to the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about the project.  Read this story in the Summit County Voice about the project and the environmental community’s response.

Thank you for your support!