Wild Rivers Update: Summer is winding down and the Water Wars are heating up!

Hello River-Loving Friends!

“It’s not the size of the organization in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the organization.”– Gary Wockner, Colorado Sun, 6/15/2025

We’re excited to send out this newsletter which describes our expanded work and mission. We’ll cover all of the river-saving topics we are engaged in across Colorado, the Southwest U.S., and beyond.

First, we were thrilled to have our work highlighted in the Jun 15^th Sunday edition of the Colorado Sun, which is the foremost publication in Colorado reporting on river and water stories. The Sun article discussed our work, and legal victory, around the Gross Dam issue, as well as the successful work of our sister organization, Save The Poudre, in Fort Collins.

It was great to see our boardmember, Daniel Beard, who is a former Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, remark about our “tenacity” in the article. Additionally, one of our former opponents, Brad Wind of Northern Water, said that our work will now change how water should be developed in Colorado, to benefit rivers and the environment.

“As folks envision a project, it will behoove them to think beyond the traditional water supply metric – delivering or storing – and to think more broadly about environmental and recreational components.” – Brad Wind, Northern Water

The article noted that we are “micro-sized organizations,” hardly ever raising over $100k/year, yet achieving some solid success as well as being a large and constant voice in the Colorado media speaking on behalf of river conservation and against dam building, which is our main program of work.

Second, the Gross Dam fiasco in Boulder County, CO, continues to limp forward. Although we achieved a legal victory in court, the judge finally ruled that the dam could be built.

Now, both Denver Water and the U.S. Dept of Justice (representing the U.S. Army Corps) have appealed the judge’s decision, and so the case will move to the 10^th circuit court of appeals in Denver where we will defend the judge’s ruling.

Our work was highlighted in a long piece in the Arizona Central newspaper which pointed out what we’ve been saying for 15 years – these new dam projects in Colorado will only increase the chaos and strife on the Colorado River downstream. Stay tuned to our email list and social media to find out how this negotiation and court case ends, which may happen this Fall.

Third, we are happy to support the proposed biggest environmental flow right in Colorado history as the Shoshone hydropower plant near Glenwood Springs sells its water right to the Colorado River District. This is an ongoing project that will play out over the next few months at the Colorado Water Conservation Board and in Colorado water court.

Our organization is making news because we are advocating for the largest possible environmental flow right, over 1 million acre feet to be permanently dedicated to the Colorado River. Stay tuned to our email list and social media to see how this plays out.

Fourth, our state water court challenges in Colorado continue to move forward AND make news. We’re still locked in a battle over the massive proposed dam, called “Coffintop Reservoir,” in state water court.  We’re proud to oppose the massive dam on the South St. Vrain Creek that would loom over the Town of Lyons. These water rights battles can take a year or more to work their way through the court process, but we believe it’s important to oppose the water rights early, before the dam concept gets any farther through the permitting process.

We’re excited to continue our partnership with the University of Denver Environmental Law Clinic which is representing us in these cases in state water court. Further, we’re helping to educate the next generation of river-protecting attorneys at the same time – a win-win! Stay tuned for the outcome of these court cases.

Fifth, we are ramping up our engagement in the long-term Colorado River Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. It’s through this process – that will play out over the next 24 months – that the biggest change in the river’s management is likely to occur.

We are arguing hard that climate change is real, and that fewer dams, not more, are one of the answers to managing the system in a sustainable way. Right now, the Bureau is managing the entire system on a month-to-month basis instead of having an eye on future sustainability.

This campaign dovetails with our “Decommission Glen Canyon Dam campaign” and will be a centerpiece of our advocacy throughout. The EIS process is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get the Bureau of Reclamation to consider decommissioning Glen Canyon Dam as an official “alternative” that can be carried forward into future policy as climate change intensifies.

Sixth, we are continuing to focus our fights against proposed new dams to a few projects where we think we can make a difference, rather than splattering our work over the entire Southwest U.S. These specific proposed new dams are in our crosshairs to oppose:

• The White River Storage Project in Rio Blanco County, CO.
• The West Fork Dam in Carbon County, WY.
• The Whitney Reservoir Project in Eagle County, CO.
• The “Defend The Fens” dam fights in Summit County, CO.
• We’re also taking a hard look at the proposed large expansion of Halligan Dam on the North Fork of the Cache la Poudre River in Larimer County, CO.

We will also still play a supporting role to other groups who are leading in other watersheds.

Seventh, we’ve expanded our work around the U.S. by working in coalition with several groups – including one of our funders, Patagonia – to organize and communicate with federal and state governments against proposed new dam projects, and especially against expanding hydropower projects. Our organization, as well as the broader environmental community, continue to struggle with all of the impacts and chaos of the new Trump administration. We are specifically keeping an eye on anything the administration says or proposes about dams and hydropower.

To that end, when the very first story was written about how Trump is engaging around hydropower, we were the single environmental group highlighted in the story!

We will continue to watchdog this administration over the next year by challenging the bad decisions it makes and supporting good ones, if any. It’s a chaotic time on the American environmental movement as the Trump administration “floods the zone” with regulatory rollbacks and legal changes.

Finally, we continue to stretch out internationally and are looking for opportunities in other countries to apply our unique model of river-protection advocacy. We were happy to see our colleagues at Wa Ni Ska Tan, an alliance of hydro-impacted communities in Canada, highlight our work by inviting us to speak to their alliance and then making a video about our presentation.

Huge new threats to rivers in Newfoundland and Quebec loom on the horizon as Hydro Quebec continues their quest to sell more hydroelectricity to customers in the northeast U.S. We will continue to engage in Canada and elsewhere as we see opportunities arise.

Once again, we emphasize that we are a very small, very aggressive river-protection organization, and that it is solely YOUR SUPPORT that keeps us working and fighting to protect rivers across the West and beyond!

Please donate online: http://savethecolorado.org/donate/

Gary Wockner, Director, Save The Colorado/Save The World’s Rivers/Save The Poudre