For a third year in a row, the state water board has made a call on a stretch of the Slate River to protect stream flows.

Flows into the Gunnison River below Crystal Dam will drop to nothing for a short time next week as Bureau of Reclamation officials inspe

The Colorado Water Conservation Board threw its support behind new wording in a proposed state water projects bill that would demand the board work with basin roundtables while studying whether there'

Thanks to some foresight last spring by the Bureau of Reclamation, Blue Mesa Reservoir filled last summer for the first time in seven years, which makes this winter's normal drawdown seem more drastic

[EDITORIAL] Transmountain water diversions from the Western Slope to the Front Range, particularly prospective transmountain water diversions...[typically generates controversy].

A possible $500,000 feasibility study for a Blue Mesa Reservoir pumpback proposal sparked the ire of the Gunnison Basin Roundtable members. Generally unhappy about the the possibility of water being pumped to the Front Range from Mesa Reservoir, roundtable members disagreed about the possibility without knowing whether there's enough water available to send over the Continential Divide. The rountable voted to send a message to the Colorado Water Conservation Board that if legislation allowing the feasibility study to go forward passes, they want a hand in the study's work in order to protect Gunnison Basin water interests. Rick Brown, section chief for the Colorado Intrastate Water Management and Development Section insisted the pumpback proposal is contingent upon the outcome of ongoing litigation regarding the amount of water Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is entitle to under its 1933 senior water right.

Members of the Gunnison River Water Conservancy District are not happy about plans to study pumping water out of Blue Mesa Reservoir to the Front Range. Currently, there is a pending bill that would set aside $500,000 to evaluate water projects, including tapping Blue Mesa Reservoir. Concerns include the Statewide Water Supply Inititative (SWSI) leaving the District out of the planning process and that this is not a good use of taxpayer money, particularly when there's no certainty the water is available. Another concern relates to the federal reserve water rights for the Gunnison River (which feeds the reservoir) in Black Canyon and an impact study by the Bureau of Reclamation that may include Blue Mesa as a source of water to meet the needs of downstream endangered species of fish.