by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel In the 1980s Gunnison philanthropist Butch Clark offered a novel way to end the age-old West Slope-East Slope water battles. He suggested that Denver could use the Colorado River’s remaining unallocated water by building a pipeline from the Utah line to [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel A common expression says, “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.” That makes no sense, as one cannot eat cake if one doesn’t have cake. Of course, that is not how the saying really goes; it’s just a modern [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel Former Interior Secretary Dave Bernhardt’s new book, “You Report to Me,” is edifying for anyone trying to understand why government has become so intrusive, partisan, divisive, and dare I say, dysfunctional. It is a first-hand backgrounder on the evolution of the [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel A landmark era of American politics passes into the history books, with Jimmy Carter under end-of-life hospice care, and with the May 27 death of James Watt. Theirs was a moment in time that deserves remembering. Most of America’s essential environmental [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel People concerned about water levels in the West’s reservoirs should be able to cheer up now. The U.S. Drought Monitor system has removed drought status from the entire Western Slope and nearly all of California. Snowpack this winter was well above [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel My grandpa was a ditch rider on the Stub Canal in Palisade, and when someone used more water than they were entitled to, the solution was simple — he locked the headgates. This week, the seven Colorado River Basin states announced [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel Let’s say you have a spring on your land, and you are surrounded by people living in the desert who are desperate for water. You make your living selling it to them, but I like the looks of the spring and [...]
by Katy Grimes, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor As Appearing in the California Globe Droughts are naturally occurring; water shortages are created by government The California Department of Water Resources announced that snowpack levels have reached nearly 250%, the Globe reported Tuesday. Specifically, the Northern Sierra region is currently at 209% [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel There are many studies on the history of the Bureau of Reclamation, established in 1902 to bring water, and life, to the West. Some writers claim it was needed to relieve overcrowding in the cities, to get people to move to [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel In all election years, candidates promise to protect Colorado water and supporters disagree on which candidate would do that best. This newspaper, in its editorial endorsements, mentioned water issues in five state and local campaigns, even basing its Attorney General endorsement [...]
