I read this is the April 6, 2010, issue of The Coloradoan. For the full story, go to tu.org--Jay Cassell

Developer Aaron Million is selling his proposed 500-mile water pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Utah-Wyoming border to the Front Range as a win for everyone, from thirsty Front Range communities to farmers to fish.

If you buy that, I've got riverfront property in the Mojave Desert to sell you.

The recent panel discussion on the proposal at the University of Wyoming highlighted some of the very real economic and environmental pitfalls of this multi-billion-dollar pipe dream ("Debate centers on water project," April 1 Colora-doan). As hydrologist Dan Leucke pointed out at that event, the proposal is rife with problems, including:

> Exorbitant cost. Million recently released a list of potential project customers. Almost all are irrigators.

According to a recent analysis by Western Resource Advocates, the value of irrigation water in eastern Colorado is less than $100 per acre-foot. By comparison, water from the $3 billion pipeline would cost an estimated $2,200 per acre-foot.

There's not an agricultural operation in the state that could afford Million's water, and few municipalities have expressed interest in the project. The economics don't add up, and it appears Million is engaging in water speculation, which is illegal according to Colorado law.

> Environmental impacts. Million has said that if the pipeline proposal has adverse environmental impacts, he'll be the first to "stick a fork in it."

It's time to stick a fork in it.

The pipeline would have huge environmental costs. The withdrawal of 225,000 acre-feet of water each year from Flaming Gorge Reservoir would draw down water levels - envision a mud-caked bathtub ring and stranded boat docks - and would threaten the world-class trout fisheries and endangered native fish species in the Green River below Flaming Gorge.

The pipeline itself would cut across and degrade sensitive wildlife habitat, such as Wyoming's spectacular Little Mountain area, renowned for its trophy elk and native cutthroat trout populations. And it could spread invasive aquatic species - such as zebra mussels and burbot - to Wyoming and Colorado waters.