San Luis Valley officials create regional board to vet water export projects
Local governments in the San Luis Valley have a new tool to protect their water resources: a regional review process for projects that propose taking the valley’s water and exporting it for use elsewhere.
Like in many communities around Colorado, local officials want to keep a tight grip on their water. Groundwater aquifers, rain, snow and rivers provide drinking water, support wildlife and keep the region’s primary economic engine, agriculture, running. But over the decades, several developers have proposed projects that would take water out of the valley and send it to places like water-short communities on the Front Range.
Communities in the valley say they don’t have water to spare. Local officials were left with a problem: They could review permit applications for water export projects within their jurisdiction — and they knew that what happens with one community’s water resources impacts others in the valley. Yet, they didn’t have a way to weigh in when a water export project was proposed to their neighbors.