DENVER (July 1, 2022) – The Denver Business Journal published an article entitled Water in the West: A drier future is here and Colorado isn’t ready, which featured Sherman & Howard’s James Eklund. Below is an excerpt of the article.

“The drier climate requires difficult decisions to be made about water use that have long been put off for the future,” says James Eklund, a Denver water lawyer at Sherman & Howard who created the first Colorado Water Plan after being recruited to the task and named head of the Colorado Water Conservation Board by then-Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Questions about land use, crop selection and infrastructure investment can be sorted out among water users and across state lines to make use more efficient without there being big losers or communities forced to change their way of life, Eklund says. But that hasn’t happened yet.

‘We’ve always had enough water in the system to avoid the argument, so we’ve just never had it,’ Eklund said. ‘We don’t have that luxury anymore.’

Read the full article in the Denver Business Journal (subscription required).