After the first round of votes were tallied Tuesday, it’s still too soon to tell whether Colorado voters have passed a measure that will use taxes from sports betting to fund projects outlined in the Colorado Water Plan.
As of 8:30 p.m., unofficial results showed 49.74 percent of
Colorado voters for Proposition DD and 50.26 percent against it.
In Pitkin and Eagle counties, the measure passed with 58
percent of voters in each county supporting the measure. Voters in Garfield County rejected Proposition DD with 53
percent of voters against it.
If Proposition DD passes, the state will be authorized to
collect a 10 percent tax up to $29 million (but probably closer to $15 million)
a year from casino’s sports-betting proceeds. The money would 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.
The plan, outlined in a 567-page policy document, does not
prescribe or endorse specific projects, but, instead, sets Colorado’s 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 Colorado
Water Conservation Board officials have said that number is an estimate and not
precise.
Some of the projects outlined in the water plan stand in
opposition to one another — 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. Proposition DD funding
could go toward any of these.
The funds would be administered by the Colorado Water
Conservation Board, a statewide agency charged with managing Colorado’s water
supply.
In addition to doling out money from Proposition DD 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 — the
feasibility of which the state is currently studying — in which agricultural
water users would be paid to leave more water in the river.
The measure had received broad support from environmental
organizations, agriculture interests, water-conservation districts and even
Aspen Skiing Company.
Editor’s note: Aspen Journalism collaborates with The
Aspen Times and other Swift Communications newspapers on coverage of rivers and
water. For more, go to aspenjournalism.org.