The Water Information Program

Water wars in the East should serve as a warning to Colorado to store more water, Sen. Wayne Alllard, R-Colo., told Western Slope leaders on Saturday. Allard, who is in the final year of his second term as senator, said that droughts have sapped water in the East and that fights such as that between Tennessee and Georgia could be previews to water fights in the West.  To avert fights over the state’s water, Colorado must immediately figure out how to store the 1.2 million acre-feet the state has been allotted under the compact that divvies up the Colorado River and its tributaries, Allard told Club 20, the Western Slope lobbying and promotional organization. In the worst case, Congress would draft new laws to make water decisions, or the federal government would mediate water fights among the states, Allard said. “Even the best-case scenario scares me,” he said to about 200 people during his keynote speech. “We must increase storage capacity to deal with droughts,” Allard said. “The state should move to do so immediately.”

To view the full article, visit the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. For a copy of the original article contact the WIP at (970) 247-1302 or stop by the office at 841 East Second Avenue in Durango.