A river runs through it—IT being every aspect of Colorado’s economy. This resource literally feeds us through our agriculture industry, it brings tourism dollars to our state through our recreation industries, it powers our commercial and manufacturing organizations—it sustains our lives. And, the water that flows from Colorado delivers that same economic opportunity to the entire southwestern U.S.
This week the governor received a draft of the first-ever water plan for the state of Colorado.
Over the coming year, and with the leadership and collaboration of the business community and other partners, this plan will mature and evolve with input from people across the state and across industries. And, by 2016, it will be up to all of us to put the plan into action. While this plan honors the history that has created the water policy and compacts we abide by today, it importantly looks forward to plan and prepare for a great future for all of Colorado.
We know our water challenges will only be solved by employing a range of strategies. We have worked closely with other business partners, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, the Colorado Competitive Council, Accelerate Colorado and Environmental Entrepreneurs, asking that a number of solutions be embraced as part of the water plan. These solutions must include an ongoing emphasis on conservation, increasing storage capacity, investing in recycling and reuse systems, exploring alternatives to “dry and buy” for ag lands and more timely and thoughtful permitting processes.
Water is one of the Chamber’s top five issues that we believe are critical to ensuring Colorado achieves the economic future we all envision. We’re pleased to see strong signs that some of the strategies we outlined may make it to the final plan. And, we are committed to being part of the next phase of the process and encouraging all water interests in Colorado to create a plan that works for all of us.
We applaud the Colorado Water Conservation Board for taking on this task. We will continue to push to see specific goals incorporated into this plan because it is time for us to take action as a state. One example of the type of goals we want to see is to address the current permitting process. We can all agree that something is wrong when an expansion of an existing reservoir, like Chatfield Reservoir—which would provide an additional 2.8 billion gallons of water for use—takes 15 years of evaluation before its approved. Certainly, navigating local, state and federal water laws should be thorough and comprehensive, but it can and must be improved. We want goals that are clear and measurable, like reducing the time for permitting by 20 percent by 2020. We also think it is healthy to outline strategies that we can all agree upon so implementation of the goal will be achieved faster after the plan is finalized.
This draft is a critical first step in planning for our future and offers us a roadmap with a variety of ways to tackle our looming water issues. Here’s how you can help: Take a look at the plan, think about how water impacts your business and share your thoughts online. Call us and share your ideas or concerns. We know water impacts us all; and we know we can find solutions that work for all of Colorado. We need you to help ensure we do just that.
Kelly Brough is the president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
[Photo by: Jeffrey Beall]