A new report released by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, says implementing the state’s ambitious water management plan will likely cost $40 billion – at least twice what the administration had projected in 2015.[I]
The increased cost is a product of the new board director for the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Becky Mitchell. Recently appointed to the position in early July, Mitchell has been producing her own estimates and believes that previous estimates were a gross cost misinterpretation of state proposed projects.[II]
Early indications are that the $20 million price tag only included costs for brick and mortar projects such as dams, reservoirs, and ditches, designed to meet current and future demands for municipal, industrial, and agricultural water use. What it did not include was costs for statewide conservation and public education programs.
“Everyone’s eyes lit up, including the governor,” said environmental activist Gary Wockner in an interview with the Summit Daily. “So it’s a big deal now that the price tag basically doubles.”[III]
“Cost projections have always been just estimates, and part of that is because not all the information is in,” Mitchell said in a report by Summit Daily. “What we’re already seeing as folks are solidifying our numbers is that it’s going to be more than earlier predictions.”[IV]
In a report by the Colorado Independent, coming up with funding for $40 billion in water projects would require unprecedented unity among Colorado’s stakeholders – a group that has historically been divided between rural and urban water needs. [V]
“It will be a much harder task to actually implement the water plan that it was to write it,” said Ted Kowalski to the Colorado Independent, a lawyer who specializes in state water issues. [VI]
As of now, it is unclear what the $40 billion will pay for and where it will come from. Mitchell said it was important to remain unified and not become stagnated on the proposed cost. She and her staff are expected to gain more clarity after the nine roundtable groups have come up with lists of proposed projects expected in 2018.
“It’s not productive to get hung up on the cost. That’s divisive,” Mitchel explained to the Colorado Independent. “What’s more productive is framing this around how much progress we’ve made coming together around this plan. We have to look at the whole picture right now. We just have to.”[VII]
[I] Fixler, Kevin. Colorado water plan cost estimate doubles to $40 billion – maybe more. Summit Daily, August 14, 2017. Web. http://www.summitdaily.com/news/colorado-water-plan-price-tag-doubles-to-at-least-40-billion/
[II] Fixler. Colorado water plan cost estimate doubles to $40 billion – maybe more. http://www.summitdaily.com/news/colorado-water-plan-price-tag-doubles-to-at-least-40-billion/
[III] Fixler. Colorado water plan cost estimate doubles to $40 billion – maybe more. http://www.summitdaily.com/news/colorado-water-plan-price-tag-doubles-to-at-least-40-billion/
[IV] Fixler. Colorado water plan cost estimate doubles to $40 billion – maybe more. http://www.summitdaily.com/news/colorado-water-plan-price-tag-doubles-to-at-least-40-billion/
[V] Greene, Susan. Anticipated tab for state water plan doubles in less than two years. Colorado Independent, August 11, 2017. Web. http://www.coloradoindependent.com/166606/parched-colorado-water-plan-20-billion-40-billion-hickenlooper-cost
[VI] Greene. Anticipated tab for state water plan doubles in less than two years. http://www.coloradoindependent.com/166606/parched-colorado-water-plan-20-billion-40-billion-hickenlooper-cost
[VII] Greene. Anticipated tab for state water plan doubles in less than two years. http://www.coloradoindependent.com/166606/parched-colorado-water-plan-20-billion-40-billion-hickenlooper-cost
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