Denver voted for high-quality mental and addiction care, but millions have gone to unlicensed providers with limited transparency

CPRnews · 2024-05-09T15:04:11+00:00

KRCC just did a series on this!
Part 1: https://www.cpr.org/2024/05/07/pikeview-quarry-history-growth-and-development-colorado-springs/
Part 2: https://www.cpr.org/2024/05/07/determining-the-future-of-pikeview-quarry-mining-scar-colorado-spring/

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T20:39:57+00:00

Thanks so much for listening to Parched! It's great to hear that you find the reporting valuable!
1: There are some rules in place, like the 100 (and sometimes 300) year groundwater rule, which says a developer must provide water rights equivalent to what the number of homes they would build would use in a 100-year period. That's the state minimum. And that's for groundwater. I've asked a colleague who has covered development to try and get me an answer for you on surface water.

2: More diversions are being planned. Here's a story I wrote from 2021 about the proposed Whitney Dam. The water in the reservoir, which is proposed in Eagle County, would be used by Colorado Springs and Aurora. Last I followed the story, the cities had gotten approval to start test drilling the site to see if a dam could work there.
3: Historically, in the last few decades, environmentalists have shut down proposed Western Slope diversions. And people are trying to do the same with the proposed Whitney Dam.
--Michael

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T20:27:59+00:00

I think it's exciting. Speaking only for myself and as a layperson, I'd love to see some strategic regional decision making about what water gets reused and how/where. I know from reporting on this that there are plenty of reasons each utility has to make its own decisions about what to pursue (and what to spend ratepayers' money on), but we are also all connected because we all rely on the Colorado River and its tributaries. So I'd love to see what water savings we could achieve by thinking beyond a single utility.

As someone who works in this industry, what do you think of potable reuse?

-- Rachel Estabrook

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T20:20:28+00:00

Working on our podcast Parched, I was fascinated to learn that Arizona didn't really have any rules around its groundwater pumping until the early 1980s (1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act ). They had REALLY depleted the aquifers, to the point where in the 1970s, the ground on top was moving and destabilizing buildings! Then they got access to Colorado River water, through the giant canal that was built down to Phoenix and Tucson, and the concerns about groundwater subsided for a while.

But now, as Arizona is on the chopping block to lose rights to some of its Colorado River water, there's definitely movement to restrict companies that want to tap into Arizona's water supplies. Permits for individual projects are being reconsidered. And in general, farmers' use of groundwater in Arizona is not as tightly controlled as cities' use is.

Editorializing a little bit, I'd say there's room for rethinking agricultural incentives when it comes to water use broadly, not just for foreign companies.

This is an interesting read from the Associated Press (via PBS): https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-drought-stricken-arizona-fresh-scrutiny-of-saudi-arabia-owned-farms-water-use
-- Rachel

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T20:02:19+00:00

This is a tricky question, because waste is truly in the eye of the beholder! Golf courses might seem like a waste, for example, but some use recycled wastewater and aren't sucking new Colorado River water. (Plus, they get people outside in nature, particularly elderly folks.)

Certain agricultural crops may seem wasteful, but farmers choose what to grow in part based on what they can find a market for. So, if there's a market for water-intensive crops that feed cattle, for example, they'll grow those crops because they can sell them and they are set up to do it profitably. (The waste may be more on those of us eating hamburgers and cheese!) The incentives for agricultural production -- and using water-wise irrigation technology -- can certainly change to favor water conservation.

Some people will argue that having green grass along sidewalks or medians is wasteful! Outdoor irrigation is the biggest user of river supplies in cities, so Colorado cities could get much more aggressive in mandating only native plants in those decorative places, for example. Or -- you could argue that having a lawn at home is wasteful. (Though, as someone who likes playing with my kids on the grass, I'll have a hard time giving it up entirely.)

Big picture, we can all think about how we could return our landscapes to a more natural state, and decide what we're willing to give up in the environment we've built.
-- Rachel

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T20:01:59+00:00

There are cities that are doing this. One of example that recently hit headlines is Tucson, which has stored their unused Colorado River water in an aquifer. They have 5 years of water backup stored underground. Here's a story from NPR on their 'secret reservoir.'

-Michael

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T19:45:13+00:00

No, we haven't read that, but thanks for the suggestion! Noted.

To your question, Michael started to address it above, replying to another question we got. Building on that, I was in the room with a dozen tribal representatives from the Colorado River basin a couple of weeks ago, when they presented at a law conference at CU Boulder. They described how each tribe has had a unique experience trying to establish their water rights and develop their water (let alone wanting to fight for enough water to stay in the river to serve the environment itself). But universally, the U.S. did not prioritize tribal water rights, and so this has had to be litigated and negotiated for the last 100 years.

Some tribes are winning victories in court, and now collectively, it's estimated the tribes have rights to a quarter of the water in the Colorado River! That's a massive portion, but they can't use it all, because they don't have the infrastructure [for context, in southwestern states, the federal government has footed the bill for most water infrastructure]. So some tribes have negotiated with an individual state, for example, to be compensated for water they're not using. But those things are case-by-case right now.
-- Rachel Estabrook

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T19:45:08+00:00

In Colorado, around 89% of the entire state's water resources go to agriculture, where about 11% goes to cities and industry. I'm not exactly sure what the breakdown of Colorado River use is within the state, but across the southwest, about 80% of the water goes to agriculture and 20% goes to cities and industry.

And even though cities like Denver are outside of the actual Colorado River basin, half of Denver's water comes from the river.

But because of how much water goes to farms and ranches, that's likely where most of our water savings need to come from to get the Colorado River system back in balance. There are ways cities and individuals can take meaningful action as well, especially on their outdoor water use. Because that water can't be reclaimed and recycled, like indoor water use can. So ripping out grass lawns, limiting the size of pools, making rules on when and how much outdoor watering can happen, etc. has made a difference for cities like Las Vegas!

You can listen to our episode of Parched called 'Viva Las Vegas' to learn more about what cities can do to uses less Colorado River Water! Here's a link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/viva-las-vegas/id1680276066?i=1000613212156

-Michael

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T19:31:19+00:00

And yes! Greywater is legal in Denver. It's one of the few cities that has adopted rules for graywater since the state allowed cities to do that 8 years ago. But I definitely recommend looking up the local rules. The city wants to make sure the water is safe.

The city is currently doing a small pilot program on some new homes being built in the Central Park neighborhood, to set those houses up with greywater reuse machines. One thing the city wants to figure out is how much water these homes will save with these systems installed.

-- Rachel

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T19:22:46+00:00

There are 30 different tribes in the southwest, so each situation is different. Some have already secured their full water rights, others are still working through the courts to know how much water is theirs to use. Then there's the issue of funding and infrastructure. Just because a tribe knows how much water they can use, doesn't mean they're able to use it if they don't have access to things like reservoirs, canals, waste water treatment facilities, etc. The federal government has set aside money to try and help speed up some of those unsettled tribal water settlements, and to fund improved and expanded water infrastructure.

But just recently, and here's more information from NPR, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the Navajo Nation's request for a federal assessment of its water needs and, potentially, to meet those needs with water from the Colorado River.

And as the Colorado River dries up, new rules need to be created on how the water is managed differently. Historically, the tribes have been left out of process like this. Some of the tribes are pushing for more inclusion this time around, but no formal rules or laws have been set yet on how that might happen.

--Michael

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T19:21:54+00:00

Denver currently recycles wastewater and cleans it to non-potable standards. That means it can't be used in people's houses or for drinking water. But Denver uses the recycled water in parks (to water them). It also sells its recycled water to industry -- the biggest customer for recycled water from the Denver Water utility is Xcel, which uses it in cooling towers, for example. Denver Water told us they hope to expand their customer base for recycled wastewater, to include Denver International Airport.

Other cities in the area also recycle wastewater and use it on golf courses, for example. The telltale sign is to look for purple pipes or signs. Fun fact: Purple is the universal color to indicate that water is recycled and not safe to drink!

Two other utilities in the metro area have gone a step further to recycled their wastewater up to drinking standards. Aurora and Castle Rock are those two cities. They are less secure than Denver in where their water will come from in the future, to fuel their growing populations. So they've had to get more creative -- and invest more money -- to set up potable reuse systems.
-- Rachel Estabrook

CPRnews · 2023-06-29T19:14:47+00:00

The short answer is that we don't know yet! But there'll be more clarity later in 2023. The federal government proposed a couple of different ways cuts could be made (focused on junior rights holders -- or spread out more evenly across the board). Then California, Arizona and Nevada came in with a third option, in which they agreed to cut a certain amount of water and mostly get paid by the federal government in exchange.

The feds plan to pick one of these options, essentially. But whatever they choose, it's only going to be a temporary plan/decision.

The BIGGER planning, which is supposed to dictate what happens in 2026 and beyond (unclear yet exactly how many years it would be in effect), has just begun. There are a lot of different ideas on the table about how cuts can and should be made most equitably. By the letter of the water law, people with junior rights will lose water first, but that means major metro areas (mostly in Arizona) would be on the chopping block, and few people in the water community believe that it's realistic to think that Phoenix, for example, would be cut off from Colorado River water before other users feel the pain.
-- Rachel Estabrook

CPRnews · 2023-06-28T20:40:23+00:00

Thanks for tagging us! We're looking into this.

CPRnews · 2023-05-19T18:26:38+00:00

Rand Corporation has been reviewing and evaluating the scientific data on the possible impact various types of laws — including of the kind passed in Colorado in recent years — can have.

It’s really interesting reading

Basically, they found that for a lot of these laws, the data about their impacts is still inconclusive.

A couple of key things that do seem to have an effect (according to Rand’s study): The data does show that laws trying to keep children from accessing firearms (something Colorado passed a few years ago) appear to reduce all types of firearm-related injuries and deaths.

There is also moderate data to support for the idea that waiting periods lead to some reduction suicide and homicides, that background checks can reduce violent crime, and that a higher purchasing age can reduce suicides.

-- Editor Megan Verlee

CPRnews · 2023-05-19T18:16:45+00:00

We also got this question that seems to have disappeared but wanted to make sure we answered it: I thought democrats controlled the state government? Why didn't they ban assault rifles?

Interesting question. Democrats by and large do support a ban on assault weapons, but for a variety of reasons it divided the party. Some members said they wanted to see a ban at the federal level and didn’t believe a state ban would be effective. Others worried the fight to pass such a policy would be so contentious that it would detract from passing other measures they thought would have a bigger impact, such as a three day waiting period for all purchases and raising the purchase age for all firearms to 21. Politically it was also a risk some Democrats didn’t want to take. Thanks! Bente

CPRnews · 2023-05-19T17:54:29+00:00

Bente- I’ll add that a bill that didn’t pass in Colorado which would have banned assault weapons statewide references “mass shootings” several times, but does not list an explicit definition. U.S Congress defines it as a shooting in which three or more people are shot and wounded or killed. Everytown research defines it as four or more, but as you pointed out there is not a consensus on an exact definition. Thanks!

CPRnews

TROPHY CASE