Community Funding Partnership

Page 250 of the public packet.

Chief of Strategy Amy Moyer and Community Funding Partnership Program Manager Melissa Wills brought forward two CFP proposals for action and consideration.

The board approved up to $20,000 to develop an irrigation company financial assessment toolkit which will help West Slope irrigation and ditch companies plan for aging infrastructure needs and achieve long-term financial sustainability. Once completed, the user-friendly toolkit will be a downloadable spreadsheet that allows boards and general managers to privately enter basic financial information such as rate structures, revenues, debt, expenses, and project costs. The tool will provide suggested rate-range scenarios aligned with their goals, along with best-practice guidance and instructions.

The Board also supported the staff’s proposal to open a limited pilot grant round for irrigation and ditch companies to complete capital improvement plans and rate studies.

To learn more about the Community Funding Partnership program, visit the website by clicking HERE.

To read the Community Funding Partnership program Annual Report, click HERE.

Grappling with Drought

Page 266 of the public packet.

Water Specialist Sam Calahan reported on West Slope conditions, noting that 2025 ranks among the warmest and driest years on record despite a wetter than usual fall. District wide reservoir storage is slightly below normal, when compared to average, and stands at Yampa/White 60%, Colorado 96%, and Gunnison 76%. He zoomed in on Green Mountain Reservoir (GMR), noting that it achieved a “paper fill” but not a physical fill, in part due to releases made for power generation before the water supply forecast nosedived in April, May and June. This made 2025 a “substitution year,” during which Front Range entities with Blue River collection systems – Denver Water and Colorado Springs Utilities – must replace the water they diverted at GMR’s expense.

Looking ahead, both temperature and precipitation outlooks present continued challenges; however, there is a silver lining: during weaker La Niña years, our region has historically experienced increased winter precipitation.

“For the West Slope, 2025 was the ninth warmest and tenth driest year, according to the historical record,” said Calahan.

Raquel Flinker, Director of Interstate and Regional Water Resources, provided a basin wide update, focusing on Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Despite some marginal increases in CRSP Reservoirs, large reservoirs across the basin continue to decline. Lake Powell stood at an elevation of 3,544.7 feet at the end of September, and some forecasts show that the reservoir could be at critical storage elevations as early as 2026. Lake Mead faces similar declines in storage volume with Tier 1 shortage conditions expected to continue for 2026.

“If we consider 3500 (ft) the elevation above which water is usable, and the level we need to protect, the usable storage currently sitting in Lake Powell is not 7.5 (maf), it’s 2.5 (maf).”

Colorado River Basin 

On Wednesday morning, October 22, Colorado River Commissioner Rebecca Mitchell joined the board virtually to share updates on the negotiations between the seven Colorado River Basin states over the future operations of Lakes Mead and Powell.

“Things have been very busy on the Colorado River,” said Commissioner Mitchell. “The states are all working to find a consensus solution for the basin.”

According to Mitchell, the basin states are up against key deadlines. The Federal government has asked the states to provide high level concepts of any deal by November 11, with details of that proposal due no later than February 14, 2026.

“We don’t have much time to reach an agreement. I have been meeting with my basin states counterparts on almost a weekly basis to reach a deal. I believe there are shared interests and hopefully we can remember those in the next few weeks. We want to avoid litigation, and we believe we do best when we are in control of our own destiny.”

Mitchell shared the stark reality that the Colorado River system has almost no margin for error even while contemplating a major change in operations. “We’re going to enter these next sets of guidelines with low storage and historically dry conditions. The first five years of the new agreement will be critical in avoiding failure at both reservoirs [Lakes Powell and Mead].”

The Commissioner concluded by taking questions from board members and reiterating how important it is to live within the hydrological reality we are facing.

“We need to operate the system to avoid a crisis-to-crisis scenario. From my perspective the question is how we operate this system in response to mother nature’s actual supply.”

Government Affairs

Page 264 of the public packet.

On Wednesday, Zane Kessler, Colorado River District Director of Government Affairs, discussed state and federal legislative and policy actions and priorities from the past quarter with a look ahead to the next few months.

Included in the memo was a summary of the Colorado General Assembly’s efforts since last legislation session, which included a Special Session to address a state budget imbalance, ongoing economic forecasts, and hearings held by the Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee.

Kessler shared with the board that budget concerns will likely dominate the 2026 legislative session as the state works to grapple with the shortfall.

“For Colorado’s water and natural resource programs, these fiscal realities suggest another lean budget year,” said Kessler.

Since the release of that memo, Gov. Polis shared his proposed budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. The 2026 Legislative Session convenes on January 14^th, 2026.

Shoshone Water Rights Preservation Project

Page 192 of the public packet.

In his General Manager’s report, Andy Mueller updated the board on the Shoshone Water Rights Preservation Project, focusing the 16-hour contested public hearing in mid-September. This hearing focused on whether the CWCB should accept the historic instream flow offer made by the River District and Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) on behalf of the coalition in May of this year.

Ahead of the hearing, the River District and PSCo granted an extension of the 120-day consideration window to allow for additional deliberation by the CWCB Board and to allow for settlement discussions to continue between the River District and the opponents on contested issues.

The CWCB Board will make a decision regarding the proposed acquisition at their November 19-20^th meeting in Denver.

During the funding discussion, Mueller reminded the board that the Shoshone Water Rights Preservation Coalition has secured an impressive $57.2 million in local and state commitments, including $17.2 million from 33 local and regional entities. The Bureau of Reclamation’s $40 million award remains under review. However, Colorado’s Congressional delegation, Governor Polis, and local leaders continue to advocate for the release of funds.

Dredge and Fill Regulation 87 Update

Page 243 of the public packet.

Rebecca Briesmoore shared updates on the stakeholder sessions and rulemaking process for Regulation 87. This regulation is Colorado’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA, which limited the scope of federal protection for dredge and fill activities under the Clean Water Act. Regulation 87 is meant to help protect the “gap waters” now excluded from federal protection through a state permit program.

During an earlier meeting this year, CRD directors had expressed concerns about several specific provisions with a focus on the recapture provision and ongoing renewals for water supply or hydroelectric projects seeking authorization. Briesmoore shared that staff has been working to address these concerns with the state during the process.

“[We’ve clarified that] ditch piping and lining projects are not covered under recapture and therefore exempt. We were very happy that the water quality control division was willing to work with us and address that concern.”

An additional concern has been the fee structure for permittees. The fee structure for permitting will have significant impacts on applicants seeking to stay in compliance. According to statute, 40% of the program must be funded by fees and 60% by general appropriation. Details are included in the memo.

Staff Updates

Caleb Foy joined the River District in October as a Senior Water Resources Engineer. He will focus primarily on working in the Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basins.

Caleb Foy is a Senior Water Resources Engineer with the Colorado River Water Conservation District, where he provides technical expertise to West Slope water users and serves as the District’s technical lead for the Gunnison River Basin. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering, both from Colorado State University.  Prior to joining the River District in October 2025, Caleb spent 15 years with the Colorado Division of Water Resources. During his tenure, he held several key positions, most recently serving as Deputy Division Engineer for Water Division 5, the Colorado River Basin.  Caleb resides in Glenwood Springs with his wife, where they enjoy spending their free time outdoors with their dog, taking full advantage of the recreational opportunities the West Slope has to offer.

A full list of Colorado River District staff can be viewed at coloradoriverdistrict.org/staff.