Even though the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement has not been executed by all parties, Denver Water and the Colorado River Water Conservation District have provided some of the benefits promised. The U.S. Forest Service “bypass” flows to the Fraser River can be reduced if Denver Water institutes restrictions. In April, Denver Water enacted a Stage 1 drought calling for customers to voluntarily reduce their water use. Under the Cooperative Agreement, Denver Water has agreed not to reduce Forest Service bypass flows unless it institutes “in-house” only restrictions. The Cooperative Agreement is not in force yet, awaiting execution by a few remaining parties, but regardless, Denver Water, in the spirit of a new way of doing business, did not reduce bypass flows. As a result, more water stayed in the Fraser River. In this year of historically low runoff, the Colorado River Water Conservation District, Denver Water and the Bureau of Reclamation are cooperating to add flows to the Colorado River for the benefit of irrigation, fish and rafting from the Williams Fork confluence with the Colorado River beyond the Grand County boundary. The additional water is the result of the Shoshone Outage Protocol, a part of the Cooperative Agreement.

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