BREAKING Colorado River Update: “It’s collusion at best. They’re trying swap federal land to evade federal law.”

Happy 2023 Friends of the Colorado River!

First, we are hitting the ground running! Right before New Year’s, a huge boondoggle of a proposed dam project in Wyoming triggered its federal permitting process and we are thick into it.

A proposed 264-foot tall dam next to the Huston Park Wilderness Area in Carbon County in southern Wyoming has kicked up a firestorm of conflict. The proponents are trying to get the U.S. Forest Service to “swap” land with the State of Wyoming so they can avoid a full-blown National Environmental Policy Act permitting process for the dam.

NOT SO FAST, WE SAY!

The first public meeting is tonight in Craig, Colorado, downstream from the Yampa River whose headwaters above the Little Snake River in Wyoming are proposed for the dam. You can read all about it in WYO FILE (click here), a great little online news source that is digging for all the facts in this story titled, “Plans for 264-foot dam above Little Snake River spur conflict”.

Second, over the holidays, we had a MAD FLURRY of media attention about our work. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Denver Post: Why can’t the West just pipe in water from the Mississippi or Missouri rivers to save the Colorado River?
2. Denver Post: How can cities across the American West reuse and recycle water to combat drought?
3. Denver Post: Agriculture uses more Colorado River water than anything else, how can the industry change?
4. KJZZ: Conservationists say falling Lake Powell water levels could be an opportunity
5. Salt Lake Tribune: Nevada calls on Utah and Upper Colorado Basin states to slash water use by 500,000 acre-feet

As we head into 2023, expect to see more action from Save The Colorado. We expect to see one or two more proposed dam projects in Colorado trigger their national permitting processes, and we continue to monitor and fight another 20 projects across the Southwest U.S.

In addition, we’ll be posting more about our work saving the Cache la Poudre River in northern Colorado, Boulder Creek in Colorado, rivers in the northeast U.S. and Canada, as well as other rivers across the planet. It’s time to fight dams and save rivers everywhere.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Gary Wockner, Director