Colorado adopted a landmark $20 billion water plan last week, reports The Denver Post.The new law hopes to accommodate rapid population growth in the state.
Gov. John Hickenlooper says the landmark plan could mean cities won't need to siphon more water from the Western Slope and transfer it eastward, across the Rockies. The plan works by conserving more, re-using more, storing more and sharing more between farmers and cities. Water usage has been the source of much contention between the Western Slope and the booming Front Range cities.
Hickenlooper said everyone will need to pitch in to implement the plan. Residents should shorten showers, lawmakers must fine-tune laws, utilities and farmers should forge alternatives to selling water rights to cities.