FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2025
CONTACT:
Lindsay DeFrates, Dep. Director of Communications/PIO – 970.456.8973; ldefrates@crwcd.org
Colorado River District and Co-Applicants File Water Court Application for Shoshone Water Rights
Glenwood Springs, Colorado — On Thursday, November 20, the Colorado River District (CRD), the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), and Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) jointly filed a change of water rights application in Division 5 Water Court. In case number 25CW3177, the CWCB, CRD, and PSCo seek to add instream flow use to the Shoshone Water Rights while still allowing for PSCo’s continued hydropower production at the Shoshone Hydropower Plant. The water court filing follows the November 19 decision by the CWCB to accept a perpetual interest in the use of the Shoshone Water Rights for instream flow purposes and sign an instream flow agreement with CRD and PSCo.
Colorado’s water courts adjudicate changes of decreed water rights to ensure that these changes do not injure other decreed water rights. The co-applicants intend to maintain the historical exercise of the Shoshone Water Rights, including maintenance of historical return flows, while ensuring that no injury will result.
In December 2023, CRD and PSCo signed a $99 million Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) to acquire the historic Shoshone Water Rights which are comprised of the senior (1902) and junior (1929) non-consumptive use rights that stabilize flows on the upper Colorado River. The PSA is the product of decades of work by the statewide Shoshone Water Rights Preservation Coalition.
To close the transaction, the PSA requires four conditions: (1) the execution of an Instream Flow Agreement with the CWCB; (2) the receipt of a water court change decree; (3) secured financing for the $99 million transaction; and (4) approval of the transaction by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
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