PRESS RELEASE: With One Week To Go, Will BuRec Stop Any Proposed New Dams and Diversions?

1/23/2023

For Immediate Release
Contact: Gary Wockner, Save The Colorado, 970-218-8310

With One Week To Go, Will The Bureau of Reclamation Stop Any Proposed New Dams and Diversions?

Colorado River: The Bureau of Reclamation’s Jan. 31 deadline is fast approaching — one week away — and with it is a huge decision about the fate of two dozen proposed NEW dams, diversions, and pipelines in the Upper Colorado River.

While the river system crashes, taking the river’s ecology down with it, the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and even New Mexico are proposing new dams, diversions, and pipelines totaling over 400,000 acre feet of water.

All of the projects are tracked (and fought) on Save The Colorado’s website here: https://savethecolorado.org/campaigns/fighting-irresponsible-water-projects/

At the same time, one influential water agency — the Southern Nevada Water District — has said that the Upper Basin needs to CUT 500,000 acre feet of water, not ADD 400,000 acre feet of new diversions before the Colorado River reaches Lake Powell. See story here: https://savethecolorado.org/press-release-southern-nevada-water-authority-smacks-upper-basin-with-500000-acre-feet-of-mandatory-cuts/

“Will the Bureau take a realistic approach and put a stop to all of the proposed new dams and diversions?” asked Gary Wockner of Save The Colorado. “Or will the Bureau brush it all under the rug and pretend like the Upper Basin is playing fair in the soon-to-be massive sandbox?”

At the exact same moment, the Attorney General of Colorado announced that his office is ‘lawyering up’ by hiring a team of new attorneys and is “not going to be afraid to litigate” over the Colorado River. See story in the Denver Post here: https://www.denverpost.com/2023/01/17/colorado-river-water-rights-phil-weiser-lawsuits/

“The River is collapsing. Building new dams and diversions is the definition of insanity,” said Wockner

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This press release is posted here: https://savethecolorado.org/press-release-with-one-week-to-go-will-burec-stop-any-proposed-new-dams-and-diversions/