As the drought emergency continues, Colorado’s parched streams and struggling fish may see some relief, not just from snow earlier this month, but from a nonprofit that specializes in brokering deals that can result in more water for the environment.
The Colorado Water Trust, founded in 2001, has negotiated agreements that have put more than 98,000 acre-feet of water back into streams. An acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons of water, enough to serve two to four urban households for one year, or enough to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot.
Typically the trust matches water owners with interested buyers and helps move the transactions through the various state agencies that must approve them. Under old Colorado law, water could only be used for a specific purpose, such as farming or municipal drinking water or industrial uses. But new laws allow water to be used for environmental purposes, with proper approvals.
This year the trust is hoping it can find water owners, such as ranchers and others, who might have spare water and are willing to put it back into a stream to aid fish in exchange for cash.
If that seems like a crazy quest, looking for spare water in a drought emergency, it might not be, according to Kate Ryan, executive director of the water trust.
To read the entire article, visit The Colorado Sun.