Director's Note

I’m privileged to work with so many incredible people, not least our 22-member WEco Board of Trustees. They’re thoughtful, astute, and dedicated to our mission. They are also active leaders beyond WEco, representing a spectrum of interests.

One, Dan Luecke, working with the Environmental Defense Fund, was instrumental in putting forth a “credible alternative” to the proposed Two Forks Project in the late 1980s. Two Forks, which required a Section 404 permit under the Clean Water Act, triggered a robust alternatives analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act—legislation that, incredibly, turns 50 years old next year.

As Dan outlines in his draft paper, The National Environmental Policy Act, the Path to Two Forks, and Beyond, “NEPA was intended to force the development of methods and procedures whereby ‘unquantified environmental amenities and values’ would be given appropriate attention alongside traditional economic and technical considerations in the planning process.” EPA vetoed Two Forks’ 404 permit because the project didn’t pass its environmental litmus test.

We cover this important part of Colorado history in these pages and highlighted it during a live panel event at the History Colorado Center in March.

WEco also supported the work of two talented graduate students this year. One, master’s candidate Kristin Green at the DU Sturm College of Law, participated in the planning session for this magazine to launch her study of permitting processes. WEco Board member and former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs served as mentor for her capstone, The Emerging Role of State and Local Governments in Shaping Water Projects.

Green concluded her paper with: “Not all projects are created equal and proactive strategies should be employed to establish thoughtful and thorough review at the local, state, and federal levels … By doing so, there will be adequate mechanisms in place to at a minimum ensure only projects of a certain caliber are permitted and ultimately developed.”

Nearly 50 years ago, NEPA put in place requirements to assess a wide range of alternatives to any proposed project, as well as to engage the public through improved disclosure and public input. Similar to Green’s recommendations, the goal remains to get good projects that can sustain both economic and environmental benefits.

That type of balanced solution, along with meaningful, transparent interaction between government and the governed, is precisely what WEco works to enable. As with all governance structures, there’s always room for improvement. Let the evolution continue with an informed Headwaters readership!

—Executive Director—