Climate change has Wyoming industry maneuvering to guarantee access to water during dry years. An order issued by Wyoming’s state engineer, and challenged by Encampment River irrigators in a recent appeal, foreshadows how water law will respond as the planet gets hotter and drier. The decision directly impacts the North Platte River basin but has statewide implications, particularly for the Green River and Little Snake River basins. On Oct. 14, State Engineer Brandon Gebhart approved the proposal of the Sinclair refinery near Rawlins to get water in very dry years from ranchland on the Grand Encampment River near the Colorado state line. That new proposal is a response to climate change, which has had more drastic effects further west in the Colorado River Basin. Wyoming may have to reduce water consumption on the Green and Little Snake rivers to meet obligations to downstream Colorado River states. A trona company near Rock Springs has sent Gebhart six requests like the proposal made by Sinclair. The trona requests are on hold while awaiting Gebhart’s decision in Carbon County. His decision there, with results on appeal, will set the guidelines for action on the trona proposals. Sinclair bought an old ranch on the Encampment a couple of years ago and in 2023 filed its request to quit the ranch irrigation in very dry years and use the water at the refinery instead. In June 2024 a crowd assembled at a public meeting with Gebhart. Irrigators on the Encampment vehemently opposed the plan. Carbon County and Rawlins officials backed Sinclair, championing the economic value of the refinery and its need for a secure water supply. The Encampment River is a tributary to the North Platte River, on which the refinery sits some 100 miles north. As on many streams in the Little Snake […]
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