By Chuck Ogilby
My river is about to die. The once-mighty Colorado River has been dying a slow death by a thousand cuts for years, but now it is going for good.
I am a small irrigator and water user with good rights. Because of this, I am on the Division 5 — Colorado River Mainstem Call Change list of contacts. The most recent notice I received reads: “The river is being administered per the 2007 Shoshone Relaxation Agreement, therefore reducing target flow at Dotsero Gage to a one-turbine call of 704 cubic feet per second (cfs) starting Wednesday, March 18, 2026.” That’s exactly half of what would normally flow when the Shoshone rights are calling their full amount of 1,408 cfs.
This “relaxation” agreement was made between Denver and Xcel Energy in 2006 to cut the Colorado River flow to the Shoshone power plant in Glenwood Canyon by half, when Denver’s reservoirs are projected to be at or below 80% full by July 1, and the National Resource Conservation Services’ April through July projected flow volume on the Colorado River at Kremmling is estimated to be at 85% or less of average.
That means the Colorado River flow can drop by 704 cfs for the next two months (or longer if Xcel Energy and Denver Water want to extend the shortfall, but only if West Slope entities also agree).
Now, Denver Water is trying to extend the Shoshone Relaxation Agreement through the entire summer, forever, and it’s time for us all to call foul.
As the new Colorado Water Plan was being negotiated, which I participated in for most of the last 20 years, the big Water Buffaloes insisted that this halving of the river supply through Glenwood Springs could not be negotiated. But two other big diversions are coming soon: the expansion of the Windy Gap Project, through the construction of Chimney Hollow Reservoir by the Northern Colorado Municipal Subdistrict, taking another nearly 8,500 acre feet out of the upper Colorado in Grand County; and the further planned expansion of the Moffat Tunnel diversions to fill Denver Water’s Gross Reservoir Enlargement Project with another 10,300 to 11,800 acre feet out of the Fraser River, also in Grand County.
Just imagine the Colorado River without this 20,000 acre feet when these diversions are fully implemented out of an already massively depleted river.
Now, our only guard against these huge depletions for the lower Colorado River is the call at the Shoshone Power Plant. And for the next two months, and maybe longer if Denver Water gets its way, half of that water will be gone to the Front Range.
To make matters worse, the “historic” 2013 Colorado River Cooperative Agreement (CRCA) between Denver Water and the West Slope obligated Denver to support the permanent protection of the Shoshone Water Rights. But where is Denver now that a permanent solution is within grasp? Actively fighting against the solution in water court.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis just activated the state’s Drought Task Force. One of the tasks of this group is to balance the health of the river and the recreation it provides. I do not have much faith in this group placing this as a top priority based on what I am already seeing from the state. My river is gone.
Denver’s attempts to reinterpret the 2013 CRCA to extend the relaxation through the summer months underscores exactly why the West Slope needs to stand together to protect the Shoshone Water Rights and to protect our own water future.
Chuck Ogilby has been fighting for free-flowing rivers for years.