As Douglas County Commissioners contemplate the prospect of supporting Renewable Water Resources (RWR) in their pursuit of obtaining water rights in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, the citizens and taxpayers of Douglas County need to know that there are alternative perspectives to this ambition. The commissioners have been pursuing “due diligence” hearings for the past few months where they have been presented painstakingly-gathered expertise and documented information from the Valley that, for most people, would be compelling. But for two of the commissioners, sadly, it is not. Commissioner Lora Thomas has understood the collected historical wisdom proffered by the valley, has decided against the RWR “proposal,” and is wishing to move on to explore better alternatives for Douglas County’s allocations of Federal ARPA funds.

The other two commissioners, George Teal and Abe Laydon, keep indulging RWR’s misinformation for some reason, even, (in the case of Mr. Teal) actually accusing the Valley of supplying “80-plus-percent false information,” while also claiming to champion a “serious deliberative process” himself. He seems bent on enabling RWR’s fabrications at the expense of demonstrable truth and the DougCo treasury. I think he protests too much.

Commissioner Laydon professes only to support a “win-win” proposition. We have demonstrated that this is an impossibility, yet he persists in “believing” that the laws of conservation can somehow be circumvented. I have to wonder here as well. That RWR has literally proposed that Douglas County give them $10 million out of the county’s general fund and “replace” it with ARPA funds is on record. Is it still called money laundering if it is detoured through a county’s general fund?

RWR, like some carnival barker, has resurrected most of the same myths of previous (unsuccessful) attempts at San Luis Valley water grabs, and these two commissioners appear to be “gullible on the midway” as it were. The waters of the valley are presently and legally deemed to be “over appropriated,” which means that no extra water is available. And we are in the midst a 20-year drought. The commissioners know all of this. Douglas County is getting 100% of its annual precipitation while the Valley is getting 80% of its (minuscule to begin with) amount, (8-to-9 inches in a good year). So, of course, go to a desert for water; pump it over two mountain passes with exorbitant annual pumping costs – 200 miles of pipeline through fault zones – and deliver it to more housing developments. We are long past “due diligence.” Why Is that?

The valley defeated two earlier trans-basin diversions. With American Water Development (in the early 1990s), the courts determined that ALL waters in the San Luis Valley are considered tributary to the Rio Grande basin, and all waters in the basin are in communication with each other. This case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which honored the rulings of the lower courts.

The second, Stockman’s Water Co. (from 1995-1998), was determined at the ballot box when their two statewide, Valley-busting referendums were roundly defeated by a margin of 3-to-1, and in Douglas County by at least 2-to-1.

RWR “represents” to any who might listen that there is an “ocean” of water beneath the sands of the San Luis Valley. They cannot explain why existing wells are then being capped. They will not acknowledge that whatever wells Douglas County may acquire would be subject to the same curtailments. They expect Douglas County end-users to pony up billions of dollars by some estimates for an ill-conceived sketch (not even a real plan) and a fossilized solution for Douglas County’s water needs, all for an unreliable water source at best.

Douglas County is the wealthiest county in Colorado. Surely, it can partner with NREL, other laboratories, innovative companies and proven water-conservation projects to proudly herald the bold spirit that Douglas County purports to embody. Are its commissioners innovators and proactive leaders or merely prisoners of a population growth and exploding development that it fears to manage? I challenge Douglas County to live within its means instead of archaically mining a completely different bio-region.

We in the Valley take our stewardship seriously and demonstrably. We endeavor to build a more sustainable and diversified future. But RWR’s “solution” only serves to vivisect our progress. That RWR would try to exploit our struggles displays the opportunism and base profiteering at the root of its “vision.” We in the valley are not fooled and see this clearly for what it is. We ask that the citizens of Douglas County require their commissioners to neither encourage nor support this poorly laid plan.  

Mark Jacobi is the facilities manager at Orient Land Trust/Valley View Hot Springs in Moffat, in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.