On the Fly: Guest column

We write on behalf of Roaring Fork Conservancy, a Colorado non-profit founded in 1996. Roaring Fork Conservancy inspires people to explore, value and protect the Roaring Fork Watershed, a headwater tributary to the Colorado River. We bring people together to protect our rivers and work hard to keep water in local streams, monitor water quality and preserve riparian habitat. 

The Roaring Fork Watershed supplies approximately 10% of the total flow in the Colorado River Basin in a typical year, underscoring its significance in basin-wide discussions. In light of persistent drought and a crisis driven by chronic overuse, there is a clear need for a shift in the Upper Basin’s negotiating position. 

We appreciate the work, time, and effort that all those involved have invested in ongoing negotiations and respectfully request consideration of the following: 

1. Seven-basin state agreement. Roaring Fork Conservancy supports continued and relentless efforts for productive negotiations with the Lower Basin states. The same arguments and political postures are not working. We support the Upper Basin’s call for immediate mediation that yields a reasonable, mutually acceptable solution for all seven states. We do not support a federal mandate on Colorado River management. 

2. Water use reductions and efficiency improvements. We agree with the Upper Basin assertion that the current crisis stems from a combination of prolonged drought and overuse in the Lower Basin. It is also well established that the Upper Basin already experiences shortages in dry years. However, an approach that places all required reductions on the Lower Basin has not produced the desired seven-state agreement. To avoid a federally imposed solution, it is prudent for the Upper Basin states to consider an agreement that includes reasonable and measurable reductions in water use. 

We support a plan for real water reductions from all Coloradans, including: 

• Western Slope municipal usage reductions with state-supported focus on outdoor water use and non-functional turf, 
• trans-mountain diversion reductions and 
• Statewide agricultural conservation programs that coincide with state funding for delivery efficiency and measurement improvements. 

Any plan should include a method to shepherd conserved water into Lake Powell. Colorado’s rivers could benefit significantly — both now and in the future — from immediate, measurable reductions in water use by Colorado users. Such reductions can be designed to reflect the inherent variability of the Colorado River. Hydrology is changing faster than the current planning process. Transparency in reviewing and considering a reasonable approach to measurable and immediate reductions is warranted. As a basin, we are collectively stalled out as each individual entity ensures its concessions are no less than any other’s- whether it be state-wide or basin-wide. Colorado must consider necessary hydrologic implications, previously enacted conservation efforts, and parity in reductions from east and west slope that benefit the state, the collective seven-basin states, and the river system as a whole. 

3. Conservation should be incentivized not penalized. In large part, our legal and administrative system does not reward conservation with the priority system. Priority administration in our state results in less use by junior users while allowing senior users to continue full diversions. Seeking, incentivizing and facilitating conservation across the board — including from the most senior users — create opportunities for multi-benefit solutions. Reliance on curtailments from the priority system is not enough to meet necessary conservation in prolonged or severe drought. 

4. Engage the entire community. In watersheds — what happens on the land impacts the rivers — we support irrigated agriculture AND conservation. Roaring Fork Conservancy recognizes the benefits of irrigated agriculture to the economy, culture, and ecology of Colorado while acknowledging irrigated agriculture also uses the largest percentage of Colorado River water statewide. We value tribal nations’ ideas rooted in historic, cultural knowledge. Frequently, we work with people across multiple stakeholder groups to find practical and on-the-ground solutions. To create any kind of scale in solutions, the state must engage a broad spectrum of leaders to act, not just to talk. It will take commitment, buy-in and action from all users, from the most junior to the most senior, to make a difference in 2026. 

Colorado has a strong tradition of practical, solutions-oriented leadership. However, in recent Colorado River negotiations, repeatedly set and missed timelines imply an emphasis on politics and defensive positioning rather than decisive, action-oriented progress. State leadership is encouraged to pursue new approaches, including the addition of fresh perspectives to negotiation teams, renewed input, alternative frameworks, potential mediation support, more solution-focused communication and adaptive policy changes.

A stable, cooperative agreement among all seven basin states is essential to addressing the future of the Colorado River and the broader West. An outcome that serves all seven basin states will ultimately benefit Colorado as well.