But while many have heralded the Windy Gap Firming Project as the beginning of a new era of cooperation in water management, not everyone agrees that mitigating environmental damage to the river is enough.

First, ice jammed the plant’s spillway in February, damaging equipment that required repair. Then the Grizzly Peak Fire burned down its transmission lines.

While policy across Colorado is still catching up to the dry conditions today, models for the upcoming year indicate that the state may need to brace for another poor water year in 2021.

Water utilities report higher than average consumption.

This level of drought has been manageable this year for Denver Water partly because of the 2018-19 winter.

If built, the project would enable Front Range water managers to repeatedly reuse water diverted from the Colorado River, something Western Slope water managers have long encouraged and see as a welcome shift.

Proponents of ‘personhood’ for the river rally, the lawsuit is amended, and the state is expected to again move to dismiss.