As recent debates revolve around where some of Wyoming's water will eventually end up, state officials are looking at ways to retain more of it.

Mike Besson, director of the Wyoming Water Development Commission, said the decision by Interior Secretary Gale Norton last week not to reduce flows out of Lake Powell - the storage basin for water flowing down from the Green River, among others - highlighted the need to examine projects along the Wyoming river.

"We have several proposals in the works" Besson said. "We will work through our water basin planning board to determine which is the best to undertake and which would garner the most support."

Besson said there are "several opportunities" for "several reservoirs" in the Green River Basin.

One proposal is to increase the water capacity in the Viva Naughton reservoir on the Hams Fork River, a tributary of the Green River. That dam and reservoir, built in the 1960s as a water source for the nearby Naughton Power Plant in Lincoln County, has a capacity of about 42,000 acre feet of water.

The goal, according to Besson, would be to increase the capacity by about 40,000 acre feet, at a cost of about $40 million.

Stan Cooper, a Lincoln County representative on the Upper Green River Basin Joint Powers Board - a board created about three years ago specifically to address water issues in the basin - said there are alternate proposals such as creating reservoirs in nearby sub-basins.

"Anytime you talk about impounding water, it's always a long, drawn-out process," Cooper said. "Some of the stuff we're doing now, our grandchildren will probably be benefited from it."

Cooper said everyone is "very aware" of the issues surrounding water impoundment, such as the potential impact to fisheries and other environmental ramifications.

"We're also concerned with all the water going down the Colorado," Cooper said. "If Wyoming ever expects to grow, economically or the population, if you do nothing else you're going to need water."

In some cases, reservoirs that allow water managers to regulate streamflows can be beneficial to fish habitat, and the Hams Fork is renowned for its fishing.

Another main-stem reservoir?

Cooper also said his board asked for and received an appropriation from the Legislature this year to study the main stem of the Green River and possible reservoir sites there.

Water on the Green was pushed into the spotlight last week after the federal government said flows from Lake Powell would not be reduced in light of the drought.

Under the 1922 Colorado Compact, an agreement among seven states sharing Colorado River water, Lake Powell releases about 7.5 million acre feet of water a year, which flows down to Lake Mead, which then supplies water the lower basin of California, Nevada and Arizona.

Besson said if Lake Powell, which is now just 34 percent full, cannot meet its 7.5 million-acre-feet obligation, lower-basin states could call for curtailment of use up river.

"That's the kind of thing I worry about," Besson said.

He said the Wyoming Water Development Commission has hired consultants to examine the possibility of dams above Fontenelle Reservoir on the Green. Even there, he said, there's a "stretch of river you want to leave alone."

The cost and the timeline, of course, are extraordinary. Besson said an eyed number is $1,500 to $3,000 for each acre foot of storage capacity created through a dam construction project.

"You have to be careful using those types of estimates, because it really gets down to how efficient a site is," he said.

The next step is to analyze and project feasibility of various sites, and try "to put together an economic package that makes sense," Besson said.

Then, extensive environmental reviews will occur.

In 2000, a river basin plan on the Green was completed, indicating 250,000 to 300,000 acre feet of water was going to Lake Powell every year from the Green, Besson said. It is estimated Wyoming gets about 14 percent of the water in the Upper Green for consumptive use.

Environmental reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@trib.com.

Talking about water

The Wyoming state engineer's office has scheduled three public meetings later this month to discuss issues related to multistate compacts for Colorado River water. The Green River in southwest Wyoming is among the largest tributaries in the Colorado River system. Here's the meeting schedule:

* May 24 - Pinedale, 7 p.m., Sublette County Public Library.

* May 25 - Green River, 7 p.m., John Wesley Powell Auditorium at Green River Center of Western Wyoming Community College.

* May 26 - Baggs, 4 p.m., Music Room at Little Snake River Valley School.