The Colorado River Cooperative Agreement1Cooperative Agreement • May 6th, 2011
Contract Type FiledMay 6th, 2011The Colorado River Cooperative Agreement is the product of five years of mediated negotiations. The negotiations were triggered by several events. In 2003, Denver Water initiated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enlarge Gross Reservoir. In 2006, Denver Water filed a diligence application in federal court regarding some of its water rights under the Blue River Decree. These filings created the potential for significant litigation and political dispute between Colorado’s East and West Slopes. In 2006, several West Slope entities met with then-Mayor Hickenlooper, who suggested that resolution of longstanding disputes over water would require the services of a mediator. John Bickerman began serving as the mediator for the negotiations in February 2007.