The Cache La Poudre River through Fort Collins nearly ran dry last week, prompting environmentalists to protest repeated no-flow periods and proposals for more upstream water projects. "This should be a crime. In Colorado, rivers have no legal right to exist," said Gary Wockner of the Save the Poudre Coalition. "Drying up the Poudre happens several times a year." Water law and policies that allow the allocation of nearly every drop for irrigation and city water supplies rather than provide minimum in-stream flows are harmful to the river, its bed, banks and aquatic life, Wockner said. Poudre River Commissioner George Varra said it is his job to ensure that water-rights owners get their share, and normal operations can cause such low flows. "This is not uncommon at all," Varra said. "The snow is gone, and the river is living on rain. There is no minimum in-stream flow to be maintained on the Poudre."

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