Colorado Water Pipeline Alarms Guides, Cities

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The proposed 400-mile water pipeline between the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Wyoming and Pueblo, Colorado could take as much as half of the normal winter flows from portions of the Green River, and that has both fishing guides and water managers increasingly worried.
While Colorado has a right to 400,000 acre-feet of water from the Colorado Basin, Utah, Wyoming and even the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation say that if Fort Collins entrepreneur Aaron Million has his way, locals — including fish — risk running dry.
“The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the river’s reservoirs and dams, has told Million and the Corps of Engineers that there’s not 250,000 acre-feet a year to spare in Flaming Gorge. After reserving Wyoming’s and Utah’s remaining undeveloped water rights and providing mandated minimum flows for endangered pikeminnows, humpback chubs, bonytails and suckers, the agency has estimated the reservoir has 165,000 acre-feet to spare.” Brandon Loomis in the Salt Lake Tribune.