Shoshone: A Generational Investment in the Colorado River’s Future

In a year as dry as water year 2026 is shaping up to be, every acre-foot of water in the Colorado River Basin matters. That’s why working to permanently protect the historic Shoshone Water Rights is one of the most important actions Colorado has taken for the health of our namesake river and for every community and water user who depends on it.

Right now, as the seven states inch forward through negotiations around the operations of Lakes Powell and Mead, stakeholders throughout the basin are actively searching for creative, long-term solutions to help stabilize the Colorado River. The Colorado River Water Users Association annual gathering in Las Vegas this week promises over 1500 attendees, all of whom are hoping to hear what is being done to protect water users throughout the basin.

The Shoshone Water Rights Preservation Project is a model of what can be accomplished when local communities and water users forge their own way forward, bridging political divides and interest groups for the benefit of those both upstream and down. The flows commanded by the Shoshone Hydroelectric Power Plant’s senior, non-consumptive water rights are the backbone of the mainstem of the Colorado River from the Continental Divide to the state’s border with Utah.

When Shoshone calls, the river keeps moving west, supporting irrigators, drinking water providers, recreation, fish, and the ecological resilience of the entire system. In years like this one, Shoshone’s senior rights command upwards of 33,100 – 36,800 acre-feet of water to the state line and all the way to Lake Powell.

Securing the baseflows of the Colorado River is also essential to protecting critical infrastructure like that of Glen Canyon Dam. As water levels in Lake Powell hover around historic lows, and projections for this year’s snowpack and runoff continue to bottom out, operators are deeply concerned about the dam’s ability to safely pass water through to the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead. Power generation is also threatened, the loss of which would drive up costs for consumers and lose a critical source of funding for dam operations, salinity control, and environmental programs.

Protecting the Shoshone water rights is exactly the kind of generational investment that strengthens the river rather than reallocating scarcity. It provides lasting security for agriculture, boosts resilience for our communities, supports recreation and the environment, and helps stabilize a river system under extreme pressure.

Recently, the Colorado Water Conservation Board recognized these values with a unanimous vote to include the Shoshone Water Rights in the state’s instream flow program. This step is one of the key requirements in a 2023 Purchase and Sale agreement between the Colorado River District and Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) to transfer ownership of the water rights to the Colorado River District. By adding a beneficial use of instream flow, while still allowing for the continued production of hydropower, this project will ensure that the historic flows regime of the Colorado River is protected from further out-of-basin diversions.

Once again, every acre-foot matters.

Return on investment

But what would it take to replace those flows if the Shoshone Hydropower Plant’s historic call went offline indefinitely? The powerplant itself is over 100 years old and sits in the narrowest section of Glenwood Canyon, a picturesque spot, but one highly vulnerable to wildfire, rockfall, and mudslide.

While it’s hard to place an exact dollar amount on the river itself, recent short-term conservation programs do offer some insight.

In 2022 and 2023, the Upper Colorado River Commission used federal dollars to implement the System Conservation Pilot Program (SCPP) which offered compensation rates of $509 per acre-foot to producers who chose not to use that water on their land. Within this rate structure, replacing Shoshone’s contribution for just one year would have an estimated price tag of over $17 million.

But that cost buys only a temporary, one-year fix. It’s a band-aid that merely holds the river at today’s crisis-level baseline.

Perhaps even more alarming is the scale of agricultural sacrifice which would be required to meet that volume. Replacing Shoshone flows through paid fallowing would mean drying up roughly 17,000 acres of productive agricultural land. With an average farm size of about 200 acres in western Colorado, that’s the equivalent of nearly 100 family-owned farms and ranches taken out of production, and again, this would only maintain the status quo on the river.

That approach is not sustainable for agriculture, for rural communities, or for the Colorado River Basin.

A Permanent, Durable Solution – Protecting Base Flows

The Shoshone Water Rights Preservation Project offers what these short-term programs never could: a permanent, durable source of essential baseflow for the Colorado River. By bringing Shoshone into the state’s Instream Flow Program, Colorado is securing a long-term solution that supports the environment, West Slope economies, and water users across the basin.

This moment is more than a water rights transaction. It is a powerful demonstration of what collaboration, creativity, and basin-wide commitment can achieve. West Slope, State partners, communities, conservation organizations and Xcel Energy came together around a shared vision: keep the river alive and flowing for everyone who depends on it.

At the Colorado River District, we are proud to lead efforts that keep water on the West Slope, keep the river connected, and keep Colorado’s future strong. The Shoshone project shows what’s possible when we choose durable solutions over temporary patches.

It’s a commitment to the river we all share.