{"id":19965,"date":"2019-11-06T12:35:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T19:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61369"},"modified":"2019-11-06T12:35:26","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T19:35:26","slug":"betting-on-colorados-waterways-proposition-dd-squeaks-by","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/betting-on-colorados-waterways-proposition-dd-squeaks-by\/","title":{"rendered":"Betting on Colorado\u2019s waterways: Proposition DD squeaks by"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Fishermen try their luck in the Colorado River west of Parshall in Grand County. <\/strong>
Sky-Hi News file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

ASPEN \u2014 Colorado voters have narrowly passed a measure that will legalize sports betting and use the taxes raised to fund projects outlined in the Colorado Water Plan.<\/p>\n

As votes trickled in Tuesday night, the measure remained too close to call; at some points, the margin was just a few hundred votes. By just after 9 a.m. Wednesday, with all 64 Colorado counties reporting, the \u201cfor\u201d votes had pulled decisively ahead.<\/p>\n

The unofficial results from the Colorado Secretary of State website show that 50.4% of voters supported Proposition DD and 49.52% were against it \u2014 a difference of 13,141 votes. <\/p>\n

Pitkin, Eagle and Summit counties passed the measure with 61%, 59% and 58% of voters, respectively, supporting it. Fifty-two percent of voters in Garfield County and 50.8% of voters in Grand County voted against Proposition DD.<\/p>\n

The state is now authorized to collect a 10% tax up to $29 million (but probably closer to $15 million) a year from casino\u2019s sports-betting proceeds. The money will go toward funding projects that align with the goals outlined in the water plan, as well as toward meeting interstate obligations such as the Colorado River Compact.<\/p>\n

The funds would be administered by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, a statewide agency charged with managing Colorado\u2019s water supply. <\/p>\n

District 5 State Sen. Kerry Donovan, who was a sponsor of the legislation behind Proposition DD, said going into Election Day she wasn\u2019t sure whether it would pass. With Colorado\u2019s growing population and the looming threat of climate change, the Western Slope will see an increasingly large burden when it comes to water supply, she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a rancher and a Western Slope native, I am really excited the state has decided to invest in the future of water in Colorado,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Funding the water plan could mean a number of things. Outlined in a 567-page policy document, the water plan does not prescribe or endorse specific projects, but, instead, sets Colorado\u2019s water values, goals and measurable objectives. According to the water plan, there is an estimated funding gap of $100 million per year over 30 years, but CWCB officials have said that number is an estimate and not precise.<\/p>\n

Some of the projects outlined in the water plan stand in opposition to one another \u2014 for example, stream-restoration projects with an emphasis on environmental health and building or expanding dams and reservoirs that would divert and impound more Colorado River water. <\/p>\n

CWCB director Becky Mitchell highlighted that the money could indeed go toward many different types of projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the most exciting thing for us is that we will have a more permanent pool of funding and it will support all types of projects,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cSo, whether it\u2019s a watershed health or agricultural project or storage project or recreational project, the benefit of a more permanent source of funding is to have secure funding for all types of projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to being distributed in the form of water-plan grants, the revenue could also be spent to ensure compliance with interstate compacts and to pay water users for temporary and voluntary reductions in consumptive use. That could mean a demand-management program \u2014 the feasibility of which the state is currently studying \u2014 in which agricultural water users would be paid to leave more water in the river.<\/p>\n

The measure had received broad support from environmental organizations, agriculture interests, water-conservation districts and even Aspen Skiing Company. <\/p>\n

Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River Water Conservation District also supported Proposition DD. While the estimated $15 million a year is a good start, river district community affairs director Jim Pokrandt stressed it\u2019s not enough to implement all the projects outlined in the water plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this does is creates a funding stream,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s really only a down payment. What we don\u2019t want to see is the other funding streams diminish because everybody will say \u2018Oh, you got (Proposition DD).\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Although there wasn\u2019t much organized opposition to Proposition DD, the measure asked voters to consider three complex topics in one question: a new tax, legalizing sports betting and funding the water plan. <\/p>\n

Political Action Committee Yes on Proposition DD spent more than $2.3 million, which came mostly from casino and gaming interests, on its campaign. The only registered group in opposition was small-scale issue committee Coloradans for Climate Justice, which argued that fossil-fuel companies should pay for the damage to water-supply systems caused by climate change. <\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: Aspen Journalism collaborates with The Aspen Times, Sky-Hi News and other Swift Communications newspapers on coverage of rivers and water. For more, go to AspenJournalism.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fishermen try their luck in the Colorado River west of Parshall in Grand County. Sky-Hi News file photo ASPEN \u2014 Colorado voters have narrowly passed a measure that will legalize sports betting and use the taxes raised to fund projects outlined in the Colorado Water Plan. As votes trickled in Tuesday night, the measure remained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 15:12:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}