DENVER (Aug. 18, 2022) — The Daily Camera quoted Sherman & Howard attorney James Eklund in the article “Colorado River crisis: Operating on ‘water time’ no longer an option.” Below are Eklund’s comments from the article.

“There are implications for Northern Colorado and the state generally,” said James Eklund, an attorney with Sherman and Howard and the former Colorado commissioner to the Upper Colorado River Commission. “The news yesterday was a signal. They (the federal government) tried to get the states to come up with a plan. The states failed. People thought the federal government would come up with a plan, but it refrained.”

“It means more uncertainty. The region (Northern Colorado) depends on thousands of acre feet of Colorado River water; it should serve as a call to action,” Eklund said.

“The state has pointed a finger and placed blame (on the lower basin). It should have come up with a plan by the deadline. … they didn’t hand in the homework assignment.”

“Every day without a plan results in uncertainty. Seventy percent of the flow of the Colorado begins in our state.”

“We need to develop our native supplies, and fast. Not in ‘water time,’ which can take decades but we need to run our two-minute offense.”

Read the full article here.