2017
An analysis by Western Resource Advocates and Conservation Colorado of the specific policies that Colorado should implement in order to drive carbon pollution reduction needed to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change and to meet the goals set by Governor Hicklenlooper’s executive order.
2017
The Executive Summary of Colorado’s Climate Blueprint, an analysis by Western Resource Advocates and Conservation Colorado of the specific policies that Colorado should implement in order to drive carbon pollution reduction needed to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change.
2016
Our 2016 annual report summarizes key successes we’ve made and a refined vision that charts a path to ensuring our vibrant communities in the West exist in balance with nature.
2017
Jon Goldin-Dubois offers perspective on President Trump’s rollback of environmental protections and what the West can do to defend and advance the protection of land, air, and water.
2016
We must ensure implementation of the plan in order to protect our rivers, accelerate urban conservation, improve aging agricultural infrastructure, and make water management more flexible.
2016
WRA is working to ensure that electricity rates are smart for our wallets, our environment, our health, and our economy.
2016
This guide is intended for water providers and community members interested in learning more about water quality protection during oil and gas development.
2015
Through an extensive information-gathering process, Colorado Springs Utilities staff developed ten portfolios of different resources and investments to represent possible futures for the Colorado Springs electric system. Planning to address key risks and changing regulations while maintaining reliable, affordable electricity is essential.
2015
This first-of-its-kind report focuses on the extent to which water connection charges are encouraging watersaving design in new construction and landscaping before ground is broken.
2015
Colorado’s forward-looking energy policies have already, and will continue to, significantly reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, positioning Colorado to readily meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.
2015
The Clean Power Plan gives Colorado tremendous flexibility to determine how to reduce carbon pollution, and the framework for ensuring compliance.
2015
In this study, Western Resource Advocates evaluated the revenue-generation potential and the water, electricity, and natural gas savings that public entities can realize using performance contracting in the Colorado River Basin states.
2015
Join Western Resource Advocates to protect public health and safety and our environment and stop the commercial development of the dirtiest of dirty fuels – oil shale and tar sands.
2014
Identifies five innovative solutions that could eliminate Western water shortages stemming from the over-taxed and stressed Colorado River and meet the water needs of the West’s business, agricultural and growing population through 2060.
2014
New energy policies in Colorado are resulting in less water needed for the energy generation sector.
2014
This report presents a credit-based carbon dioxide emission rate reduction program for existing power plants including model regulatory language.
2013
This report articulates why and how Western utilities can achieve conservation synergy by integrating water and energy efficiency programs.
2013
Practical methods for community organizations to advance energy efficiency and on-site renewable energy.
2012
This report is the second in a series outlining how Colorado can meet future water needs for 80% of the population without building large infrastructure projects or pipeline diversions.
2012
A proposed alternative to the water supply project proposed by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District to protect the Poudre River, wetlands, communities and businesses while meeting future water needs of 15 towns and water districts in northern Colorado.
2012
Fracking Our Future is the first report to provide a comprehensive measure of water and community health impacts from hydraulic fracturing in Colorado.
2012
WRA has produced the definitive guide to oil shale in the West and its potential effects on water, land and air quality, and local economies.
2012
Using case studies, this report highlights the close ties among energy, drought, and water use in the Intermountain West; clean energy policies that reduced the energy sector’s water use and exposure to drought; and, finally, recommendations for mitigating the impact of future droughts on the West’s energy sector.
2012
This report shows that for the first time in 20 years, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the electric power sector have leveled off and have even begun to decline in the Intermountain West.
2011
In this document, we highlight regulators’ and utilities’ efforts to integrate water into resource planning.
2011
The enormous amounts of water used to generate electricity aren’t being taken into account when utilities make plans to meet future energy generation needs. This report lays out the facts of energy’s water costs and recommends ways to address them.
2011
This report offers a realistic and balanced water supply and conservation strategies to meet the projected needs of the Colorado’s Front Range communities while protecting healthy rivers, economy, and quality of life.
2011
This fact sheet outlines strategies to address energy use in the water sector and highlights some of the Colorado communities that are making the connection today.
2011
A study of the economics behind the proposed Flaming Gorge pipeline, commissioned by WRA, reveals that it would produce the most expensive water ever seen in Colorado.
2011
This report examines two options now confronting the West and how they could play out: the region chooses to invest in modernizing the grid moving toward a clean energy future, or it continues to spend money on the grid in a business-as-usual manner.
2010
This report by Western Resource Advocates and Environmental Defense Fund illustrates why legislation is needed to curtail the risk climate change poses to western water supplies and highlights the water-energy nexus. The report provides detailed measures to include in a well-designed national climate and clean energy policy that will safeguard the West’s water.
2010
One out every four electricity customers in the nation gets their power from electrical co-ops or small electrical utilities. This report focuses on how these suppliers can create cost-effective, energy efficiency programs with robust community participation.
2010
A close review of economic data reveals that potential economic benefits of oil shale are far different than what proponents claim.
2010
A report prepared for WRA by Dr. Cutler Cleveland questions oil shale’s energy return, showing oil shale is, at best, a marginal energy source and may not produce any more energy than is consumed in the process to turn it into fuel.
2009
This groundbreaking report is the first to catalog the extensive holdings of water rights in western Colorado that could be used for oil shale development.
2009
Planning, Building, and Living Water-Smart strategies and model case studies for the arid Intermountain West.
2008
To ensure the benefits of clean energy are fully realized, Westerners and resource managers must work together to develop the transmission network needed to link wind, solar and geothermal energy to existing grids and to ensure they have equal footing with fossil fuel sources. Some of the key planning principles to achieve this are outlined in this publication.
