Third-Annual Citizen's Poll Shows
Colorado Voters Protective of Their Water

Analysis by Floyd Ciruli
October 17, 2008

Eighty-two percent of Colorado voters believe any excess Colorado River water flowing out of the state should be kept and used in Colorado. All five regions of the state advocated keeping Colorado’s water, including voters on the Western Slope where the Colorado River is located.

The Third-Annual Citizens’ Poll, conducted by Ciruli Associates for the Economic Development Council of Colorado (EDCC), tested a series of political, economic and policy issues, including transportation and water. Additionally, the 2007 EDCC Citizens’ Poll showed having a dependable water supply is considered a top priority for jobs and the economy by 92 percent of voters.

Ciruli Associates, N501, 2008

Question: One other issue that has been in the news lately concerns the state’s water supply. In most of Colorado’s river basins, all the water has been put to legal use. But it is estimated that approximately 450,000 to 1 million acre-feet a year of the state’s Colorado River water is not legally allocated for use. The surplus Colorado River water flows west out of the state and is used by residents, businesses and farms in California. Do you believe Colorado should keep its share of Colorado River water and use it here or not keep its share of Colorado River water?

The Third-Annual Citizens’ Poll (Sept. 19-23, 2008) was sponsored by the Economic Development Council of Colorado (EDCC), a statewide consortium of local and regional economic development professionals. The statewide survey was conducted with 501 randomly selected Colorado voters, and has a statistical range of error of ±4.4 percentage points.

Colorado River

The Colorado River has been in the news recently after Senator John McCain suggested reopening the multistate river compact that governs the shared use of the water. McCain’s position was highly controversial and was rapidly attacked by Colorado Democrats. He withdrew the comment. But it opened a discussion of how much water could be rightly claimed by the state, but isn’t, and whether failing to claim the water leaves Colorado vulnerable to other states’ claims?

There have been numerous water storage and diversion projects proposed in recent years related to Colorado River water, but since the defeat of the water bond proposal Referendum A in 2003, water has become a third rail in Colorado politics. Policy gridlock between the Front Range and Western Slope interests, municipal and special district water providers, environmentalists and recreationists has allowed water to keep flowing out of state. No project or series of projects has been able to attract a sufficient consensus to move the process forward. The state and most water stakeholders have been left producing multiple studies and holding serial roundtables.

The question asked voters was framed using the most commonly expressed view that from 450,000 to 1 million acre-feet of water per year flows west that could be claimed by Colorado.

Support for claiming Colorado’s share of water was high across all major demographic characteristics. Western Slope voters were even more interested to retain Colorado’s share of the Colorado River than other regional voters. Also, partisanship was not a factor – support varied by only one percent around the mean: Republican (82%), unaffiliated (81%) and Democrat (83%).

Storage

If Colorado was going to keep more Colorado River water for in-state use, it would need more storage. The survey asked a second question concerning voters’ support for additional water storage. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of voters said “the State of Colorado should build additional water storage projects to store runoff water for later use.” Only 13 percent said there was “sufficient storage.”

Ciruli Associates, N501, 2008

Question: Do you believe the State of Colorado should build additional water storage projects to store runoff water for later use or does it have sufficient storage?

Although the State of Colorado doesn’t build storage, there is little doubt that it must be a primary mover in the effort, including facilitating federal agencies involved, conducting studies, expediting permitting, convening meetings and encouraging consensus. The state, in fact, will likely be required to contribute to the financing of any project that claims a significant share of Colorado River water for multiple users due to the multi-billion dollar cost of major projects. Federal financial help may also be required.

Support for storage, like claiming Colorado River water, spanned the state’s regions and its partisans.

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Ciruli Associates is a non-partisan research firm providing polling, election analysis and political commentary to Colorado and national media organizations since 1976.