Oppose Homestake III/Whitney Reservoir
- Howdy!
- Jun 7
- 2 min read
NEW OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN EVEN MORE! Join our friends at Eagle River Coalition on June 28 for a Homestake Science Day and learn more about this unique area, and why it's worth protecting. For details and to register visit: https://eagleriverco.org/event/homestake-community-science-day-2/.
Background: ESWA has long fought to protect the beautiful Homestake Valley in the Holy Cross Wilderness. The Valley is home to an amazing diversity of plant and animal life, irreplaceable fens and high-quality wetlands, and an abundance of recreation opportunities. The Cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs want to construct the Whitney Reservoir Project, another huge reservoir in the Homestake Valley (in addition to their Homestake I reservoir). The new project - which locals are calling are calling “Homestake III" (read on for the why) - would divert up to 20,000-acre-feet of West Slope water annually to the Front Range, eliminate as many as 497 acres from the Holy Cross Wilderness, and flood a spectacular and ecologically rich valley.
In 2021, White River National Forest allowed drilling test wells in the Homestake Valley – the first step towards constructing the new dam and reservoir.
The proposed Whitney Reservoir is an alternative to the Homestake II project, which proposed a dam in the Holy Cross Wilderness and was successfully defeated by massive community outcry and legal action in the 1980s and 1990s. This alternative is no better than Homestake II.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Sign the petition on the Wilderness Workshop website linked to below.
Look for Action Alerts from ESWA when it is time to call and write county, state, and federal officials in opposition to the project.
Join and donate to ESWA to support our efforts to stop Homestake III
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