Colorado legislature takes ‘incremental steps’ on water issues

The 2023 Colorado lawmaking session was one of “incremental steps” on water issues, which means Coloradans have to wait until next year to see if legislators can find policy solutions to key water security questions.

Colorado, like the six other Western states in the Colorado River Basin, is facing an uncertain water future as a two-decade drought and overuse threaten the basin’s water supply. This year, state officials started the 120-day lawmaking session saying water was going to be the “centerpiece” of Democratic environmental policy. 

But as lawmakers debated more than 600 bills, water issues fell by the wayside as topics like housing, gun control and abortion took center stage. Fewer than 20 bills specifically addressed water issues, although several…