Statewide water plan paves the way for Colorado’s water future – what’s your role to ensure water equity?
“Water, water everywhere…and not a drop to drink.” When I was a child growing up in Oregon, we used to sing that. In the midst of all that rain, I couldn’t imagine ever being without a drop of water to drink.
Now, as a longtime resident of Colorado, I am increasingly aware of the water challenges we face with a finite amount of water statewide. The unprecedented population growth in Colorado – as well as what we’ve directly experienced in Boulder County, including drought, wildfires, floods and climate change – demand that we all think more about Colorado’s water future.
In 2015, nearly two years in the making, Colorado’s first Water Plan was finalized – the result of hundreds of community meetings, thousands of online comments and the General Assembly’s Water Resources Review Committee, along with the input and experience of many others. The Water Plan reminds us that we are “at the headwaters of the Continental Divide, and all of Colorado’s major rivers flow downstream to 18 states and Mexico.”
Over time, disputes have arisen regarding how water should be allocated – after U.S. Supreme Court litigation, Colorado negotiated nine legally-binding agreements with downstream states which, in turn, limit our own supply of water. Access to water is complicated because 70-80% of Colorado’s water falls west of the Continental Divide, while 80-90% of our population resides east of the divide along the Front Range.
The Colorado Water Plan was written before the water tragedy in Flint, Michigan, which brought our attention to something most of us take for granted: that tap water is clean, safe and reliable. In addition to the common ways we think about water use, we now see things through another lens, namely the social justice aspects of who gets water and how we ensure water quality. The Flint Community Foundation’s Child Health and Development Fund now supports “critical interventions for child safety” – a sad reflection of an invisible community need.
These are big issues and no single entity can take them on alone – we all have a part to play. Boulder County and the municipalities here have long kept an eye on how we determine our growth based on available water; but water use also needs to be part of our conversations about sustainability, affordable housing, and how we manage to limit our appetite for “all things green,” opting instead to appreciate native, water-conserving plants in our yards and gardens.
Recently, I attended a meeting of Colorado foundation leaders, as well as state and national leaders who are working on water policies related to water. If you’re interested in what’s happening around water use in Colorado, and the roles a foundation and its donors can play in ensuring water equity, please let me know (JosieHeath@aol.com) and I’ll be glad to keep you informed.
For now, ditch those plastic water bottles, take a long, slow sip of our precious water…and join me in thinking about how we can make the right decisions for Colorado’s water future!
Related:
Save the date: On May 5 at 7 p.m., the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will host a free movie screening at Denver’s Esquire Theater (590 Downing Street). “Flow” discusses the privatization of the world’s fresh water supply and gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions and developing new technologies to solve the world’s water crisis. This Drinking Water Week event is free and open to the public. For more information, click here.
