Election 2021: Water questions going down to defeat

GREELEY — Two initiatives that would have added a direct vote to questions of water use in Greeley were being decisively rejected at the polls.

Weld County Clerk and Recorder results mid-Wednesday showed Ballot Questions 2G and 2H losing by a 4-to-1 margin.

The measures sought to amend the Greeley Home Rule Charter to require engineering analysis of and then voter approval in special elections for buying, selling or leasing excess water or infrastructure.

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With roughly 16,700 votes reported by the county clerk, 2G and 2H showed about 19% to 20% supporting the amendments and 80% to 81% opposed.

The margin of opposition remained steady through the evening Tuesday after polls closed at 7 p.m.

Greeley Water and Sewer Department Director Sean Chambers said via text Tuesday night that in the future, “under the direction of our elected officials and the Water Board experts we will continue operating in the best interest of the Greeley community.”

Voters “believed in what the city was telling them” said Paul Wood, who was a candidate for the City Council and involved with Save Greeley’s Water. The group worked to place the two questions on the ballot after the city agreed this year to buy the Terry Ranch aquifer. Backers of the measures said they wanted to see more direct citizen involvement in such agreements.

“At this point, it’s pretty much a done deal,” Wood said of the aquifer acquisition and, with the defeat of the measures, the process on future similar questions.

Wood expects permitting on a pipeline and other parts of getting the Terry Ranch water to take “several years” and said despite the loss, people realize “we have to hold our city management accountable.”

Wood’s bid for an at-large council member seat also was being denied. He ran third of three candidates with 28% of votes cast, 600 and 1,700 votes behind Lavonna Longwell and Brett Payton, respectively.

Wood said he felt “a sense of relief that my campaign for council is over.”

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