by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
The Daily Sentinel
Washington Evening Star humorist Philander Chase Johnson created a great character named Senator Sorghum. A 1902 piece called “A Delicate Distinction” had one character saying, “That friend of yours seems to have a clear conscience.” Senator Sorghum answered, “No, not a clear conscience; merely a bad memory.”
A convenient memory is common in politics. And current negotiations regarding the Colorado River District’s attempt to purchase the Shoshone water rights from Xcel Energy provide a perfect example. Water providers up and down the Front Range, and especially Denver Water, seem to be conveniently forgetting the agreement made more than a decade ago — to support the purchase, and even help finance it.
No water rights question in Colorado has larger implications than Xcel’s old Shoshone power station in Glenwood Canyon, whose 1902 water rights are senior to all transmountain diversions. They are among the oldest water rights on the Colorado River, so the “Shoshone call” can curtail diversions to the Front Range, which otherwise amount to roughly half of the mainstem of the Colorado River.
Ever since I can remember, the Western Slope has feared that Denver Water might persuade Xcel to sell those water rights, allowing even more transmountain diversions and curtailing more junior rights in Garfield and Mesa counties. That’s why the Colorado River District proposes to purchase Shoshone’s rights, even though the price is almost $100 million.
