The Colorado Water Conservation Board today voted overwhelmingly to end funding for the Flaming Gorge Task Force, which had been considering future large-scale water diversion projects such as the Flaming Gorge Pipeline.
“The Flaming Gorge Pipeline has been called the ‘zombie pipeline’ from years of lumbering around trying to latch onto anything that might keep it alive,” said Drew Beckwith, Water Policy Manager at Western Resource Advocates. “Today’s CWCB vote sends a strong message that it’s time to move on to other water demand solutions.”
The decision is in line with public opinion — a recent Colorado water poll found that four-in-five Colorado voters favor focusing on water conservation efforts rather than water diversions.
The Flaming Gorge Pipeline is a proposal to pump 81 million gallons of water a year across more than five hundred (500) miles from the Green River in Wyoming to the Front Range of Colorado — all at a projected cost of $9 billion dollars (according to CWCB calculations).
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