Water has always been essential to our way of life here on the western slope. Water touches every area of our daily lives and the local economy. It holds both historical significance and the key to our future.
During our last board of directors meeting, the Grand Junction Economic Partnership voted to strongly support the Colorado River Water Conservation District’s efforts to acquire and permanently protect the Shoshone water rights.
For more than 20 years, the Colorado River District and a growing coalition of Colorado governments and water entities have been working together to permanently preserve the Shoshone flows. The Shoshone Hydro Plant, a unique run of the river hydroelectric power plant, sits along the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon and produces 15 megawatts of electricity. Shoshone holds a very senior (1902), nonconsumptive water right on the Colorado River, returning the flows it uses to the river after a short trip through the hydropower plant’s penstocks and turbines.
