Western States Megadrought intensifies - predictions for bad Fire Season and severe water shortages for Colorado (Denver: taxi, high income)

[jim9251]

I'm surprised that guy knows where the western slope is.

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by jim9251

I'm surprised that guy knows where the western slope is.

LOL! I must confess that I agree with you. But then most people on the Front Range seem completely unaware that the Western Slope exists at all. This makes it all the more convenient for them to devise ways to steal our water.

[Melanzana92]

Hasn't Polis made it a point to give attention to all parts of the state? I think people on the Western Slope or other regions forget that the Front Range has 85% of the population, and that impacts water allocation as well. We share a society with them. It's their tax dollars fixing our roads.

[interloper1138]

Originally Posted by Melanzana92

Hasn't Polis made it a point to give attention to all parts of the state? I think people on the Western Slope or other regions forget that the Front Range has 85% of the population, and that impacts water allocation as well. We share a society with them. It's their tax dollars fixing our roads.

I agree that Polis does a decent job of recognizing the entire state, even if the emphasis clearly tilts towards the Front Range. However, I disagree that water should be distributed on a per-capita basis. In an environment of finite resources, exponential growth and unchecked and mismanaged development should not be rewarded.

I’m all for civil society and collective resource distribution (to an extent), but the Front Range might as well be a separate state. They get the lion’s share of the water, wealth, and tax benefits and they increasingly ask for more and more. Meanwhile, anywhere that is outside of the I-25 corridor that isn’t a haven for the wealthy gets neglected.

[Mike from back east]

Found an interesting map of Billion Dollar Climate and Weather Disasters for year 2020.

Colorado made the list for drought and heat issues. Full page from NOAA is here.

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Found an interesting map of Billion Dollar Climate and Weather Disasters for year 2020.

Colorado made the list for drought and heat issues. Full page from NOAA is here.

Thanks Mike! That first link has a very eye opening map:

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

What is the best for the economy of our state - a field of alfalfa or a new subdivision in Colorado Springs? I suspect that the subdivisions will win out.

Both fields of alfalfa and subdivisions full of fescue are wastes of water in Colorado and are best grown elsewhere. Naturally landscape both the fields and the subdivisions, then you’re left with drinking water for young professionals, who would produce far more economic output on a per-unit basis while funding roads they’ll never use in the rural parts of the state. Run bison on the land that was formerly alfalfa.

Originally Posted by interloper1138

I agree that Polis does a decent job of recognizing the entire state, even if the emphasis clearly tilts towards the Front Range. However, I disagree that water should be distributed on a per-capita basis. In an environment of finite resources, exponential growth and unchecked and mismanaged development should not be rewarded.

I’m all for civil society and collective resource distribution (to an extent), but the Front Range might as well be a separate state. They get the lion’s share of the water, wealth, and tax benefits and they increasingly ask for more and more. Meanwhile, anywhere that is outside of the I-25 corridor that isn’t a haven for the wealthy gets neglected.

Population growth is unavoidable. Anyone expecting property and/or investments to fund their retirement is dependent on it. Personally, it is my full expectation that I won’t be able to consider retirement and that I’ll most likely die in a water war.

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

Both fields of alfalfa and subdivisions full of fescue are wastes of water in Colorado and are best grown elsewhere. Naturally landscape both the fields and the subdivisions, then you’re left with drinking water for young professionals, who would produce far more economic output on a per-unit basis while funding roads they’ll never use in the rural parts of the state. Run bison on the land that was formerly alfalfa.



Population growth is unavoidable. Anyone expecting property and/or investments to fund their retirement is dependent on it. Personally, it is my full expectation that I won’t be able to consider retirement and that I’ll most likely die in a water war.

I love the idea of the return of the bison. I imagine them in their vast numbers moving through an ocean of grass on the high plains as if the white man had never arrived and destroyed everything in his path. That was what the Sioux ghost dance was about, BTW. They believed that if the ghost dance was performed correctly, time would start to run backwards and the white man would vanish from the North American Continent, the tall grass prairie as well as the forests would grow back to their former state of glory, and of course the bison would return. The white men in charge of preventing the remnant of the Lakota people from escaping back to their old home on the plains didn't like what the ghost dance represented at all. The result was the brutal and completely unjustified slaughter at Wounded Knee.

Some things never change. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the heavily populated and financially secure residents of the Front Range will have their way with the much poorer and more sparsely settled Western Slope. The headwaters of both the Colorado River and the Rio Grande originate in the high mountains of the Western Slope, but that doesn't mean that the water they carry remains here. Can we say Moffit Tunnel, everybody? Denverite's won't come to slaughter the farmers and ranchers here, but they will destroy their way of life without so much as blinking an eye.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

Population growth is unavoidable. Anyone expecting property and/or investments to fund their retirement is dependent on it. Personally, it is my full expectation that I won’t be able to consider retirement and that I’ll most likely die in a water war.

Err... If you had the last administration's immigration policy for a couple of decades, the United States would quickly start losing population just like Asia and Northern Europe. Population growth isn't unavoidable. What is unavoidable in the United States is economic mobility where people move from places of poor economic opportunity to places of strong economic opportunity. A lot of that is driven by cost of living and quality of life. With Denver's 2021 cost of living and quality of life, it's unclear how long it will continue to grow at a high rate. The 5%er white collar professionals can afford to move to Denver but it's approaching the point where it won't be affordable for a 30%-er or 50%-er.

[Vision67]

Federal government plans to take more water from already stressed Colorado River Basin reservoirs

https://gazette.com/news/federal-gov...2690849e7.html

"The federal Bureau of Reclamation took the unprecedented step Thursday of starting to release more water from already stressed reservoirs in the Colorado River Basin to support power production at Lake Powell.

The agency started releasing more water from Flaming Gorge Dam on the Utah-Wyoming border Thursday and expects additional releases to come from Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison in Colorado and Navajo Reservoir on the Colorado-New Mexico border until December. The Colorado River Basin includes the Colorado River, which starts in Grand County, Colorado, and the tributaries in several states that feed it.

Additional releases are needed after 2.5 million acre-feet of expected water did not flow into Lake Powell between January and July. The agency expects to release 181,000 acre-feet to ensure that the hydroelectric generators at Glen Canyon dam can continue to produce electricity. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land to a depth of one foot and generally considered enough to supply a family of four for a year.

Adding to concerns, runoff into Lake Powell is only 30% of average, according to the bureau. "