{"id":3420,"date":"2026-07-09T13:32:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3420"},"modified":"2026-07-09T13:32:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:32:48","slug":"pitkin-county-oks-costly-water-purchase-for-roaring-fork-river-amid-diversions-to-front-range-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3420","title":{"rendered":"Pitkin County OKs costly water purchase for Roaring Fork River amid diversions to Front Range cities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ASPEN<\/strong> | Against the recommendation of an advisory board, Pitkin County commissioners on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to buy more water to boost flows in the often-depleted Roaring Fork River.<\/p>\n

Commissioners approved on first reading a resolution and ordinance to spend $442,500 to buy 4.68 shares from the Twin Lakes Reservoir & Canal Co., which is about 3.5 acre-feet of water, according to a staff memo. The deal is in addition to the $6.5 million Pitkin County already agreed to spend earlier this year for about 71 acre-feet from Twin Lakes and another ditch company.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The water is currently taken across the Continental Divide to the Arkansas River basin to be used by entities on the Front Range, including Aurora. The deal would allow the water to be released out of Grizzly Reservoir to Lincoln Creek and could help boost the Roaring Fork through Aspen and upstream, which suffers from low flows in dry years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really critical that we purchase water rights when we can, and this is an opportunity that we can, and we should,\u201d District 1 Commissioner Patti Clapper said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Pitkin County has long had a goal of increasing the amount of water in the Roaring Fork, a river that has about 40% of its headwaters diverted to the eastern side of the state through the Independence Pass Transmountain Diversion System to be used by Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Aurora. These diversions can often contribute to the depletion of the Roaring Fork through Aspen, and purchasing Twin Lakes water represents a rare opportunity to return water to the Western Slope.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Greg Poschman said he supports acquiring the water shares.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s great that we are doing this,\u201d he said. \u201cI know it\u2019s expensive; there are some raised eyebrows about that, but I think this is something we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poschman added that he was concerned that the Healthy Rivers board members recommended against buying more water and said he would like to fully understand their reasons. County staff said they were trying to schedule a joint meeting with the Board of County Commissioners and the Healthy Rivers board in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Members of the county\u2019s Healthy Rivers board, which advises the BOCC, are concerned that the water will have a small impact on river health but a big impact on the program\u2019s budget. The board held a special meeting June 25 to consider acquiring the shares and approved a motion saying the water yield would potentially be only 1 additional cubic feet per second for two days.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, the deleterious effects of the purchase price on the long-term fund balance of the Healthy Rivers Fund will reduce the Healthy Rivers Program\u2019s ability to support programs to address other ballot measure mandates, including water quality, ecological health, recreation opportunities, wildlife and riparian habitat, and promoting water conservation,\u201d the motion reads.<\/p>\n

The motion goes on to say that in the future, the county should implement a framework for evaluating the true value of water shares to the Roaring Fork.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday\u2019s meeting, County Budget Director Connie Baker told the BOCC that the Healthy Rivers board will have to trim or reallocate about $500,000 from next year\u2019s budget to account for the combined impact of this year\u2019s purchases of two water shares.<\/p>\n

Healthy Rivers board member Ned Andrews said he is against the purchase, citing the impact that it will have on the program\u2019s budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of the analysis or details that would justify such a purchase or a strategy going forward has been done,\u201d Andrews told Aspen Journalism. \u201cI think before you commit essentially a quarter of your budget for the next 15 years, you\u2019d want to have an analysis that shows you what could be accomplished. My gut feeling is that it wouldn\u2019t really accomplish much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Andrews also opposed the earlier, larger water share purchase, although the rest of the Healthy Rivers board was supportive.<\/p>\n

At their regular June meeting, Healthy Rivers board members went through the budget line by line and considered where they could trim, although those cuts have not yet been finalized.<\/p>\n

Pitkin County\u2019s Healthy Rivers Program is funded by a .1% countywide sales tax, and its mission is to improve the water quality and quantity of the local watershed. The program has funded projects such as beaver inventories, investigating water quality on Lincoln Creek, upgrades to diversion infrastructure and ditches, and an effort at a Wild and Scenic designation on the Crystal River.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spending big bucks in an effort to rescue rivers is not new for Pitkin County, which has spent at least $3.5 million on the Roaring Fork River Park in Basalt, including a water court battle to secure the water right for recreation, several redesigns of problematic waves, and improvements to the riverbank and boat launch.<\/p>\n

Bond for original purchase approved<\/strong><\/p>\n

The commission at Wednesday\u2019s meeting also approved issuing a bond for the original purchase of Twin Lakes shares. That deal cost the county $6.5 million, although only 45 of those acre-feet represent Western Slope water that is currently diverted to the Front Range. The county plans to sell or trade the other 26 acre-feet, which is owned by the Fountain Mutual Ditch Co. in El Paso County and decreed for use on the east side of the divide.<\/p>\n

The 45 acre-feet of water can be released down the Roaring Fork during the irrigation season when flows are low, and it must be used by a downstream water user on the Colorado River before the town of DeBeque. Instream flow for the benefit of the environment is not a decreed use of the water.<\/p>\n

This year, according to Colorado Water Resources Division 5 Engineer Tyler Benton, at least some of Pitkin County\u2019s Twin Lakes water was released as part of the Colorado River Water Conservation District\u2019s emergency substitute water supply plan, which the district enacted in response to this year\u2019s historic drought. Benton said he expects the River District to provide a full accounting of how much Pitkin County water has been released Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grizzly Reservoir is currently drained for dam maintenance, which may have affected how much water could be released under the River District\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

At a time when drought impacts are being acutely felt across the state and climate change continues to rob rivers of their flows, for some, the unique opportunity to put water back into a depleted stream is worth the cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is expensive water, but it\u2019s the only water you can get up at the headwaters of the Roaring Fork,\u201d said Pitkin County Deputy Attorney Anne Marie McPhee. \u201cSo that scarcity makes it more valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue is scheduled for a public hearing and second reading July 22.<\/p>\n

Aspen Journalism, which is solely responsible for its editorial content,\u00a0 is supported by a grant from Pitkin County\u2019s Healthy Community Fund.\u00a0 <\/em>
<\/em>
<\/em>Aspen Journalism is a nonprofit investigative news organization covering water, environment, social justice and more. Visit <\/em>AspenJournalism.org<\/em>.\u00a0<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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Read more Mayor Coffman seeing red over green Aurora school district lawns amid sustained drought<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ASPEN | Against the recommendation of an advisory board, Pitkin County commissioners on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to buy more water to boost flows in the often-depleted Roaring Fork River. 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