Colorado's Hickenlooper Vetoes Innovative Water Bill

Earlier this month, Colorado Governor Hicklenooper vetoed a great water conservation and river protection bill.  After a year of work by a diverse coalition of farmers, water providers and conservationists across the state to reach a compromise to address the state’s water woes, Hickenlooper reversed course and killed the bill.

Yes, Governors veto bills all the time. So what’s the big deal? From AW’s perspective, this is a major missed opportunity, and a very disappointing harbinger of things to come from the Governor who proclaimed in his state of the State address this year, “every discussion about water should start with conservation.”

Here are the details: SB 23 would have encouraged farmers on the West Slope to use water more efficiently, without jeopardizing the water rights they rely on year after year. This would have meant more water in rivers, and thus healthier rivers, and of course, better recreation opportunities for us paddlers. The bill was designed to allow farmers wiggle room to better line drainage ditches, or install more efficient sprinklers, without experiencing a legal ratchet effect on their water rights, where if you use less water one season, you must use less forever.

As river advocates, we’re sorely disappointed that this collaborative, creative solution was nixed. And just as concerning, it’s a signal that the Governor is unable to support innovative, incremental solutions. When even win-win solutions are shoved aside, it’s hard to be optimistic about our state’s water future, and particularly about the collaborative effort we are putting so much energy into, the Colorado State Water Plan.

We’re not alone in our disappointment. A number of Colorado conservation organizations, led by Clean Water action, have created a new website, sort of an anti-congratulations effort, to highlight the Governor’s failure to lead on this issue. That site contains a petition and a sharply framed video scolding the Governor for his about-face on this important bill. We sure hope it will convince him to change his mind about innovative water policies that protect rivers, farmers and communities.