There’s a new [Colo.] state law aimed at reducing soil erosion caused by the transfer of water rights out of the Arkansas River Basin. Once effective next year, it will require revegetating the land with native plants before water can be used elsewhere. Municipalities and developers often purchase and move irrigation water away from agricultural areas, often known as “buy and dry.” … During the hearings for the bill, [Colo. state Sen. Cleave] Simpson said there’s an unintended consequence. “If you make it incrementally just a little bit harder in Division Two (the Arkansas River Basin) to transfer water rights from ag to municipal, guess where they go to look for other transfers: the Rio Grande Basin, the Colorado River Basin, and the South Platte where maybe the barriers and the obstacles are a little less intrinsic and cumbersome.”

Other Colorado water supply news:

• The Colorado Sun (Denver): Northern Water wins some, loses some on its $2.7 billion dams project