Target on Northeastern Colorado as “Sacrifice Zone” Is Long Standing Issue

Did you know that before the Basin Roundtables and Colorado Water Plan, there was an attempt to discuss options for meeting the growing “gap” between water supplies and demands in the Denver Metro Area? In the 1990s, then Governor Romer issued an executive order authorizing the Metropolitan Water Supply Investigation (MWSI) to research opportunities for meeting the future water needs of Colorado’s growing Front Range. Not long after the study began, there became widespread concern that Northern Colorado was being targeted as a “sacrifice zone” for Denver Metro cities without recognizing that those water supplies were needed locally for Northern Colorado. In 1996, former Northern Water General Manager Eric Wilkinson shared Northern Colorado’s concerns about water leaving our region in a comment letter recommending a significant overhaul to a study feeding the MWSI process.

“Northern Colorado has invested resources in developing and protecting a diversified economy that includes a significant irrigated agriculture component. These irrigated lands are not only important from an economic perspective but also provide critically important open space and wildlife habitat. The water supplies used to irrigate these lands also provides a source of drought protection for Northern Front Range municipalities and water providers. These water supplies cannot be transferred to the Metro area without causing significant adverse effects to Northern Colorado,” Wilkinson wrote.