Wingfoot Water Resources, LLC

Yesterday the Coloradoan reported that Northern Water might have to change the location of a proposed reservoir northeast of Greeley because the proposed site is home to about 24 active oil and gas wells.

Any water put in the proposed Galeton Reservoir would be at risk of contamination if the oil and gas wells were left uncapped.  Capping the wells could be costly, adding to the already projected cost of $1 billion dollars to build Galeton Reservoir.

Reservoir opponent and Save the Poudre director Gary Wockner argued there are as many as 30 wells on or near the current proposed site and estimated that drilling them again elsewhere would cost more than $100 million.

Read more on the Coloradoan website, Oil Wells May Force Galeton Reservoir Relocation.

The first quarter issue of Water Market Insider, focused on Colorado’s South Platte Basin and market trends.

“Colorado has a long tradition of water rights trading that has grown out of necessity due to both physical water scarcity, and a changing economic base from agriculture to municipal and industrial growth. About 80% of Colorado’s water supply is found west of the Continental Divide while roughly 80% of the population and 70% of the irrigated farmland are found east of the Divide. To address this spatial divide between water supply and demand, Front Range agricultural, municipal, and industrial water users have looked to market transactions of water rights to accommodate new and expanding uses.”

Take a look at the Water Market Insider for last quarter below, or you may download a PDF here.

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