Colorado

Nestle Proposal
Nestle Waters North America is proposing to pump water out of an aquifer in the Arkansas Valley near Nathrop, CO (approximately midway between Salida and Buena Vista). This water will then be piped 5 miles to a loading station. The water will then be trucked to Denver for bottling under the Arrowhead brand. The quantity of water involved is 200 acre feet per year, which translates into approximately 65,000,000 gallons per year. In order to handle this quantity of water, Nestle will be running 25 trucks roundtrip to Denver each day. Nestle calls this a sustainable operation.

Let the Colorado Run Again
The reservoir's elevation could also drop three times faster over the next three years than it has over the past five. If that happens, it would cause hydroelectric power production at the dam to cease in 2006. By 2007, a condition known as "dead pool" would be created, which means the dam would basically become useless as a power generator. The reservoir, however, would still stretch 104 miles upstream, contain approximately 2 million acre- feet of water and sediment, and rest 234 feet above the original river bed at Glen Canyon Dam.

County Water Board Sues U.S. in Dispute Over Colorado River
The Imperial Irrigation District, which provides the farmers with irrigation water, has asked a federal judge to block a decision by the secretary of the interior that reduces the district's allocation from the river. Imperial officials said a lawsuit was filed on Friday in federal court in San Diego.