Colorado River Update: Check out our victories! We are hard at work and appreciate your support.

Hello River-Loving Friends!

As 2025 winds down and we approach Colorado Gives Day, please know we are hard at work and greatly appreciate your support to continue working throughout 2026! You can donate online by clicking here. 

First, we have an important “win” we want to share with you. For over 15 years, we’ve fought against a massive proposed pipeline project that would divert water out of the Green River in Utah and pipe it across Wyoming and over to the Front Range of Colorado. The project has been called various names over the years, starting out as the “Flaming Gorge Pipeline” back in 2010.

Finally just a month ago, the Utah Supreme Court ruled against the project, which should put a final nail in its coffin. The Grand Junction Sentinel newspaper, which followed the project for all of its 15 years, covered the story and gave us some space to comment. While we weren’t in the state court case in Utah, we fought this project in every other venue, and we’re happy to see it perhaps finally be killed.

Stopping this project helps stop the insanity of draining even more water out of the Colorado River when the River itself is on life support. We’ll continue to keep an eye on this project, jumping in the fight whenever possible.

Second, one of the more interesting and hopeful developments along the Colorado River has come in the Rights of Nature for Rivers movement. In November, the Tribal Council for Colorado River Indian Tribes, a reservation near Parker, Arizona, voted unanimously to adopt a resolution giving the Colorado River as it flows through the reservation “personhood” status which also says the River is “alive.”

Much like a “Rights of Nature” resolution, the personhood status allows the Tribes to dramatically raise the stakes in how the River is managed. In fact, Amelia Flores is the chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, and she stated in a newspaper: “I have been asked whether an action under tribal law can affect how seven Basin States and the federal government do business. The answer is absolutely, yes!”

In addition in November, the Durango City Council voted unanimously to approve a River Rights resolution for the Animas River as it flows through the city. This resolution was moved forward by students in a “water justice” class at Fort Lewis College in Durango. The professor for the class, Becky Clausen, said in the Durango Herald, “The unanimous vote to approve the Rights of Animas River resolution is an example of college and community collaboration.”

We are delighted to see these two Rights of Rivers efforts move forward which align with our Rights of Nature for Rivers program. We believe that Rivers are, in fact, ‘alive‘ and need legal status for their protection. We are fully on the side of the Tribes and the students!

Third, in the vacuum of leadership around how the Colorado River will be managed, we are pleased to be a co-presenter of this new report, “There’s No Water Available: Commonsense Recommendations to Limit Colorado River Conflict,” that was highlighted in numerous media reports in October and November.

The Report, supported by our colleagues — Great Basin Water Network, Utah Rivers Council, Glen Canyon Institute, Living Rivers, Sierra Club, and our Save The Colorado — offers nine commonsense recommendations to address the problems on the Colorado River and chart a more sustainable path forward for the next two decades.

As of this writing, the seven states that are supposed to be negotiating a solution have deadlocked and the whole Environmental Impact Statement process has flatlined. It remains to be seen what will happen, but we’re in the fight offering real solutions to protect the River. Our specialty is looking out for the ecological health of the River itself, which is mostly completely ignored by the negotiators.

Fourth, in our ongoing battles against new dams and diversions in the Colorado River watershed, a proposed dam project in Wyoming on the West Fork of Battle Creek in Carbon County got a setback two weeks ago when the estimated price of the project doubled. The Wyoming state legislature was hoping for a cheaper, faster project of around $80 million, but an engineering firm weighed in with a bigger price-tag of $150 million. Ultimately, we think the project will cost double that — likely near $300 million — if it ever comes to fruition which could be many years, or even a decade, away.

This dam project is a terrible idea and would only benefit a handful of ranchers in the area as well as cause a huge amount of environmental damage by damming the headwaters of the Little Snake River which flows into the Yampa River in Colorado. We are watching this project like a Labrador Retriever watches you eating a steak. Stay tuned as we jump into action if they ever start a permitting process.

Fifth, the ongoing chaos at Gross Dam in Boulder County continues to limp forward. As of this writing, the court has ordered “mediation” that we have entered into in good faith. We are hopeful for an outcome to address the environmental impacts of the project.

The Gross Dam fight has lasted over 15 years for our organization, with wins and losses stacking up. At present, the dam is getting built, but the district court judge put a permanent injunction against diverting more Colorado River water to fill the reservoir. Where this will end up, or how long it will take, nobody knows. That said, we still believe we did the right thing by battling the project which would further drain the Colorado River at the very moment where the River itself is on life support.

Sixth, another “win” for our side came on November 20^th from the Colorado Water Conservation Board which ruled that the Shoshone hydroelectric water right could be transferred for instream environmental flows on the Colorado River. This would be the biggest environmental flow right in Colorado history and a significant step forward for the permanent protection of the health of the River in Western Colorado.

We engaged in the process as a formal “party” offering comments to the Board in support of transferring the water for an environmental flow right. Now, the process moves to state water court where it will be determined “how much” water will be allotted for environmental flows. Powerful water agencies on the Front Range of Colorado – including Denver, Aurora, and Colorado Springs — are trying to limit the amount of water dedicated to the River. We hope to engage in the water court process to fight for the maximum amount of water.

Engaging in water court is time-consuming and expensive, and as you consider a donation to our organization, please know that this environmental water right is one of the important battles we will be fighting in 2026. We have an opportunity here to set a huge and important precedent that permanently dedicates water to the River instead of to the political machine that promotes more and more growth while further draining Colorado’s rivers.

Finally, we’re excited to see our boardmembers stretching across the planet to protect rivers as well. Our boardmember, Mark Easter, spoke during a side event at COP 30 in Brazil in November. Mark’s talk was about how dams and reservoirs cause greenhouse gas emissions and are not a climate solution.

We were also happy to see our boardmember, Emily Hite (pictured at left), at the COP in Brazil. Emily is an assistant professor at Saint Louis University where she specializes in studying the conflict around water and dams in Latin America. At the COP she met with the former president of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, and discussed river protection issues in his country.

Once again, we emphasize that we are a very small, very aggressive river-protection organization, and that it is solely YOUR SUPPORT that keeps us working and fighting to protect rivers across the West and beyond!

Please donate online: https://savethecolorado.org/donate/

Gary Wockner
Director, Save The Colorado/Save The World’s Rivers/Save The Poudre