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Colorado

Colorado has long been concerned about the effects of population growth. In the 1970s, Denver became the first city ever to turn down the Olympics, citing concerns about the accompanying growth's impact on quality of life. Such concerns still persist. Today, 72 percent of Colorado voters say that the current trend of population growth is a major threat to the quality of life in Colorado. Yet Colorado continues to add the third largest number of people to its population of any state. [new paragraph] At a time when Colorado is struggling with growth issues like disappearing open space, traffic congestion, and school corwding, immigration continues to add large numbers of residents to the state. Immigration accounted for almost one-quarter of the state's population increase during the 1990s.

Colorado : Extended Immigration Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 Colorado’s population had increased to 4,939,456 residents. That was an annual average increase of about 180,635 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 2.2 percent per year.

Colorado had the 6th greatest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.

NET INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION (NIM)

Based on the Current Population Survey, the Census Bureau estimated that between the 2000 Census and July 2008 the state’s population increased by about 243,790 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 29,370 residents, i.e., more than one-fifth (22.4%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Colorado was 841,288 persons in 2006. The ACS is a large-scale, continuous sampling process designed to replace the need for a long-form in the 2010 Census. However, because the ACS does not have the same follow-up procedures as the Census to include non-respondents, it may underestimate the foreign-born population.

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Colorado was about 929,285 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 10.5 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 17,230 people, which is nearly one-fifth (19.7%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 40.3 percent compared to a 12.4 percent increase in the native-born population.

Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 21 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 14,495 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for more than 32,485 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., nearly than two-fifths (37.1%) of the state’s overall population increase.

Colorado ranked 9th nationally in the rate of foreign-born change between 1960-2000. 

Another indicator of the change in the immigrant population is data on the share of the population of over 5-year olds that speaks a language other than English at home. Between 1990 and 2000 the share of non-English speakers at home in Colorado increased by nearly one-half, from 10.5 percent to 15.1 percent. Less than half (44.3%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2006, the state’s foreign born population was 489,486 residents, an increase of 32.3% percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 142,434 to 369,903 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 159.7 percent.

 The ten countries below constituted 75.1% of the foreign-born population in Colorado in 2006. Mexico alone accounted for 52.1%.

Between the 2000 Census and the Census Bureau estimate for 2006, the foreign-born population in Colorado increased by about 119,600 persons (32.3%). Latin America (including Mexico) accounted for more than 83,700 immigrants (up 40.7%). Mexico alone accounted for more than 73,300 additional immigrants (up 40.4%). Immigrants from Asia grew by 31.7% (nearly 24,000 people). Immigrants from Africa nearly doubled (nearly 9,800). The immigrant population from Europe and Canada increased by about 2,100 persons (2.7%).

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK

The Census Bureau estimates that there were about 763,000 people in Colorado in 1997 who were "immigrant stock." That is a term that refers to immigrants and their children born here after their arrival. Based on that estimate and the estimated population of 3,893,000, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 19.6 percent in 1997 -- the 13^th highest in the country.

As the graph below shows, the amount and share of Colorado’s population change due to the increase in the foreign stock is rising rapidly. Over the past 34 years the new immigrants and children born to them have added about 530,000 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 22.1 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 151,050 residents, or 30.9 percent, of the foreign-born population in Colorado were citizens, compared to 116,875 residents, or 31.6 percent, in 2000.

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born population was citizens in 2000, and 42.0 percent in 2006 

Refugee Settlement
Colorado has received 8,471 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including 810 persons in FY’06.

 

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS/ORR) assistance funding for FY'02 $821,438 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Colorado based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 3,273 refugees (an average of $251 per refugee). This allocation does not include a larger share (55%) of funding programs for communities heavily affected by recent Cuban and Haitian entrants, communities with refugees whose cultural differences make assimilation especially difficult, communities impacted by federal welfare reform changes, educational support to schools with significant refugee students, and discretionary grants. ORR grants for FY’05 and FY’06 respectively were $3,328,845 and $4,100,813.

STUDENTS

Data are not available nationally on immigrant students (either legally or illegally resident in the United States) who are enrolled in primary and secondary schools (K-12). However, many of these students are enrolled in Limited English Proficiency/English Language Learning (LEP/ELL) instruction programs. Many may be U.S.-born, but the majority of these students may be assumed to be either immigrants or the children of immigrants, with the exception being areas with native Americans who speak a native language other than English.

In Colorado, overall enrollment in 2004 (766,657) was 11.5 percent above enrollment in 1995. By contrast, LEP enrollment was 237.7 percent higher than a decade earlier.

Data on enrollment in LEP/ELL programs are collected by the federal government from school systems that receive Title VII funds for these special instruction programs. The data on LEP/ELL enrollment are understated because data from private schools that do not apply for Title VII assistance are sketchy.

FOREIGN STUDENTS

The 2006/07 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in Colorado as 5,315. Two schools in Colorado are listed as having a major concentration of these students:

Univeristy of Colorado  had enrollment of 1,152 foreign students, 3.9% of total enrollment.

Colorado State University had enrollment of 1,033 foreign students, 3.9% of total enrollment.

Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Colorado from 1960-2007.

For information on foreign student issues see: Foreign Students in the United States.

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate - FAIR’s estimate of the state’s illegal alien population as of 2007 is about 270,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 13 million persons.

INS/DHS Estimate - The INS (now dissolved into the Dept. of Homeland Security) estimated in February 2003 that the resident illegal population in Colorado was 144,000 as of January 2000. This number nearly 100,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 225,000-275,000 as of 2005.

COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Incarceration Costs- Colorado has received partial compensation under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) that was established in 1994 to compensate the states and local jurisdictions for incarceration of "undocumented," aliens who are serving time for a felony conviction or at least two misdemeanors.

The recent SCAAP amounts that Colorado has received were:

The amount of SCAAP awards has been declining in both total distributions and even more as a share of the state’s expenses. In FY’99 the state received 38.6% of its costs. SCAAP data indicate that Colorado's illegal alien inmate population had increased by 87 percent from the 953 inmate years in FY'99 to 1,780 inmate years in FY'02, while compensation increased by 21 percent.

Medical Costs - Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, hospitals with emergency rooms are required to treat and stabilize patients with emergency medical needs regardless whether or not they are in the country legally or whether they are able to pay for the treatment. Congress in 2003 enacted an appropriation of $250 million per year (for 4 years) to help offset some of the costs due to use of this service by illegal aliens. This amount has been allocated among the states based upon estimates of the illegal alien population and data on the apprehension of illegal aliens in each state. This amount compensates only a fraction of the medical outlays. For Colorado, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $3,433,957.

Educational Costs - In our study Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red, we estimated based on 2004 data that educational expenditures for illegal immigration were costing the Colorado taxpayer $564.1 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($235 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($329.1  million).

Projected Fiscal Costs - In 2006 we estimated that Colorado taxpayers are currently burdened with annual costs of about $711 million because of illegal aliens residing in the state. That estimate was based on only expenditures for education, emergency medical care and incarceration. We projected that those costs will rise unless we gain control over our borders and our worksites. If a new amnesty and increases in immigrants and guest workers were enacted, as proposed by business and ethnic advocacy groups, we project that the cost to the state’s taxpayers for those same programs would rise to $1,217billion per year in 2010 and to $2,124 billion per year in 2020.

OTHER

Rural schools in Colorado are bearing the brunt of large-scale immigrant settlement with the least amount of financial resources to deal with the soaring costs. State officials have pledged $190 million over 11 years to help the rural areas cope. The state legislature has proposed $500 million in additional funding for schools in the southern part of the state. Almost the entire student population increase is comprised of immigrants who speak little or no English. The number of Spanish-only speaking students, whose migration is due to the booming cattle industry, has multiplied five-fold over the past five years. The schools are unprepared in terms of Spanish-language materials, and bilingual teachers to be able to offer English as a second language instruction. (Source: EFE news service in Hispanicvista, May 23, 2000)

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

You can find local immigration reform organizations here.

STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD

You can view the voting record of your representatives in Congress regarding immigration issues in our voting report section.

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Colorado : Immigrant Admissions

Recent immigrant admissions have jumped more than 680% since the level of admissions just after adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 1,714 immigrants. During the most recent five years, admissions averaged about 11,665 persons.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 1,499 in FY'69 to 13,782 in FY'91 (due to the amnesty in 1986). The cumulative total of admissions to Colorado between fiscal years 1965 and 2006 was about 246,132 immigrants.

 

The data for fiscal years 1989-91 were artificially raised slightly by the inclusion of former illegal aliens who were amnestied in 1986. According to INS data (1991) the number of amnesty applicants from Colorado was 22,459 (10,384 pre-1982 residents and 12,075 agricultural workers).

The data for FY'95, FY'97-'99 and FY'03 were artificially low because the government did not issue green cards to all the eligible applicants for adjustment of status who were already in the United States. In those four years, new immigration could have registered as much as 30 percent higher, if the government had kept up with its workload.

Beginning with FY'01, the INS began to increase admissions as a result of reducing the size of the backlog of Section 245(i) adjustment of status cases, i.e., amnesty, for illegal aliens.

INS DATA BY NATIONALITY: FY'96 - FY'05

The table below furnishes INS data on the immigrants who have been admitted for residence in Colorado since 1996 by nationality.

The INS data are for nationals of the countries with the largest number of immigrants admitted or adjusted to legal residence each year since 1996. The absence of data means that the total number of admissions to the United States by nationals of that country was not enough to merit detailed reporting in that year.

The nationalities may change each year, so the totals in some cases will not reflect all the immigrants of that nationality who have become legal immigrants in Louisiana during this period.

The Department of Homeland Security website is has detailed data on immigrant admissions since FY’03 by year and by country. That resource has data for all source countries. (See http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/statistics/data/dslpr.shtm).

A dash (-) indicates that the data for that year was not published for that country in the Immigration Statistical Yearbook.  * China includes Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Soviet Union includes Russia and former parts of the USSR. Yugoslavia includes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro-Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The 31 nationalities above represent nearly four-fifths (78.5%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Colorado during this ten-year period. Nearly one-third (32.4%) of all new "green card" recipients during this period were Mexicans. Mexican immigrants plus those from the former Soviet Union, China and Vietnam account for more than half (50.6%) of all immigrants admitted during that period. 

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Colorado : Poll Data

A Rasmussen Report poll conducted 500 Likely Voters in Colorado on December 12, 2007 found:

• 75% oppose granting drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens.
• 71% say that when police officers pull someone over for a traffic violation, they should routinely check to see if that person is in the country legally.
• 59% believe that if an illegal immigrant is discovered in this manner, they should be deported

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Colorado : Immigration Impact

Population Change

Colorado’s population increased by 30.6 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 10.5 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing Colorado’s total population to approximately 4.7 million. 

Approximately 26.5 percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2005 in Colorado was attributed to immigrants.

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 263,000. This number is 84% above the U.S. government estimate of 144,000 in 2000, and 748% above the 1990 estimate of 31,000.

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 illegal aliens living in Colorado. That ranked 12th among illegal alien populations in the United States.^2/

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Colorado spent $235.0 million per year on illegal aliens in public schools.^3/

Population Profile

Colorado has long been concerned about the effects of population growth. In the 1970s, Denver became the first city ever to turn down the Olympics, citing concerns about the accompanying growth’s impact on quality of life.^4/ Such concerns still persist: Today, 72 percent of Colorado voters say that the current trend of population growth is a major threat to the quality of life in Colorado.^5/ Yet Colorado continues to add the 8th largest number of people to its population of any state.^6/

At a time when Colorado is struggling with growth issues like disappearing open space, traffic congestion, and school crowding, immigration continues to add large numbers of residents to the state. Immigration accounted for almost one-quarter of the state’s population increase from 1990 to 2005

Colorado’s population density rose from 32 people per square mile in 1990 to 41 people per square mile in 2000, a 28 percent increase. In the Denver metro area, density rose from 410 people per square mile in 1990 to 533 people per square mile in 2000.^7/

Foreign-Born Population 

Colorado’s foreign-born population increased by over 31 percent between 2000 and 2006. During that period Colorado gained over almost 90,000 immigrants, bringing the total number of foreign-born residents in the state to over 458,000.

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Disappearing Open Space: Many families who moved to the area for its open space despise the current pace of development spurred by population growth, feeling that what they moved to get away from is following them.^8/ Each year Colorado loses 22,500 acres of open space and farmland due to development.^9/ Colorado has the second largest growth in housing development in the nation in 2002. ^10/

Southeast Aurora, now a dusty prairie, is rapidly developing and will grow by 80,000 people by 2025, pushing Aurora’s population past Boulder’s, currently the second most populous city in Colorado.^11/

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for Colorado residents increased 17 percent during the 1990s, from 21 minutes to 24 minutes in 2000 (versus a national average of 14 percent).^12/,^13/ The Denver-Aurora urban area currently ranks thirteenth in the nation for time lost in traffic delays—an estimated 51 hours per year per traveler.^14/  30 percent of Colorado's major urban roads are congested and 43 percent of Colorado's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

Vehicle travel on Colorado's highways increased 60 percent from 1990 to 2003. Congestion in the Boulder area costs commuters $167 per person, $404 per person in Colorado Springs, and $786 per person in the Denver metropolitan area in excess fuel and lost time.^15/  13 percent of commuters in Colorado have a commute time of 45 minutes or more.^16/

As the area’s population increases by another one million people in the next 20 years, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) predicts that the number of vehicle miles traveled each weekday in metro Denver will climb by 29 million miles.^17/ As a result, the area will have to provide at least 2,300 additional lane-miles to prevent further congestion. Yet DRCOG’s long-range transportation plan plans for an increase of less than half that.^18/

Education: Between 2000 and 2005, Colorado’s elementary and high school enrollment increased 8 percent (71,717students).^19/ By 2025, enrollment is expected to pass one million students.^20/

School overcrowding is becoming a costly issue for Colorado. In order for Colorado to maintain its 1999 student-teacher ratio, approximately 5,000 new teachers will need to be hired annually. The expected additional 10,000 public school students per year will mean building at least 20 new schools annually. A planning Committee reported that Douglas County, which has seen a 43 percent increase of students since 1996, will need ten new schools in the next five years to keep up with its booming population. Construction and renovation to ease such school overcrowding could cost upwards of $175 million.^21/

In 2007 Colorado ranked 42nd in the nation for its student-teacher ratio of seventeen students per teacher.^22/

Crowded Housing: 39,000 Colorado households are defined as crowded by housing authorities (2.15 percent of occupied housing).^23/ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born.^24/,^25/

Sprawl: Metro Denver has the fourth worst case of urban sprawl in the nation, according to the Fannie Mae Foundation.^26/ Residents are trying to fight back by organizing neighborhood groups to pool private funds and buy up land to protect it from development.^27/

However, such solutions are limited because even well-intentioned “smart growth” can’t accommodate continual population expansion. With metro Denver’s population set to add more than an additional one million people by 2020, many in the area worry that Denver is on its way to becoming the next Los Angeles.^28/

Sprawl will have a devastating effect on Colorado’s natural resources if it remains unchecked, according to studies conducted by Colorado State University. “Colorado’s rapidly growing population and the trend toward more development and sprawl will inevitably lead to more conflicts over natural resources,” points out CSU biologist Rick Knight.^29/

Water: With a population increase of over 10 percent between 2000 and 2006, Colorado is one of the 10 fastest growing states in the Union. This population growth results to a large extent from immigration; as Colorado saw nearly a one-third (32.7%) increase in its foreign-born population during those six years. ^30/ By contrast, over the same period, the native-born population increased by 8.5 percent and that included the births to immigrants. When the U.S.-born children of immigrants are included, immigrants account for over forty-five percent (45.2%) of the state’s population growth.

If current growth trends continue, by 2050 the state’s population will have reached 8.9 million residents, nearly double the population of 4.8 million in 2006.^31/  Colorado currently has a per-capita demand of 209 gallons of water each day. This means that in 2050, daily, public demand may exceed the 2006 level by up to 833 million gallons per day.

Limited sources of groundwater and a dwindling Colorado River simply cannot continue to yield adequate water if this growth continues. According to the water manager of Aurora, Peter Binney, "It is wrong to assume that cities could continue to grow without experiencing something akin to a religious awakening about the scarcity of water."^32/

Adding to the state’s demand-induced water woes, global climate change further aggravates the water conditions. The Colorado River largely depends on runoff from the Sierra Nevada snow pack. Climate change has caused less snow pack to be annually produced, as well as premature melting. This further jeopardizes future supplies by facilitating more evaporation, reducing the river’s flows. ^33/

Indeed, in its current condition, the Colorado River no longer flows all the way to the sea for large portions of the year. ^34/ Lake Mead and neighboring Lake Powell, two large reservoirs which divert water from the Colorado River, have seen declining water levels. A study from the Scripp’s Institution of Oceanography states that there is a 50% chance that these two reservoirs will be nothing but mud puddles in as little as 13 years.^35/ Already, statistical models indicate that Lake Mead will never reach full capacity again.^36/

Marine research physicist Tim Barnett and climate scientist David Pierce have concluded that collectively, human demand, in addition to natural forces such as evaporation and climate change, are creating a net deficit of nearly 1 million acre-feet of water per year from the Colorado River.^37/

 Hope for Colorado water resources, and the Colorado River Basin, which is essential to much of the Southwest, can only transpire if the demand for water is reduced to the rate at which it is naturally replenished.

Additionally, the Ogallala Aquifer is critical to farming in the center of the nation, including eastern Colorado. However, it is replenished slowly because of the relatively dry area. At least 12 billion cubic meters are being drawn from it every year. It's drying up. At the current rate, the aquifer may be dry in less than 25 years. ^38/ Limited water resources are being exacerbated by growing human consumption When the aquifer finally runs dry, the High Plains Region will be little more than desert.

Solid Waste: Colorado generates 1.12 tons of solid waste per capita. ^39/

Air Quality: The American Lung Association gave Larimer and Douglas counties a grade of “F” in their 2005 state of the air report. Denver and Boulder counties received a “C”, and Arapahoe received a “D”.^40/

Poverty: Eighteen percent of immigrants in Colorado have incomes below the poverty level, which represents a 29 percent increase since 2000. Among non-citizens, the poverty rate climbs to 22 percent.^41/ Only 54 percent of the state’s immigrant residents who are older than 21 have a high school degree.^42/

Endnotes 

1.  FAIR estimate based on the 2005 Current Population Survey. 
2. "Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for States based on the March 2005 CPS", Pew Hispanic Center.
3. Martin, Jack. “Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red,” A Report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
4. “Special Report: The Games That Got Away,” 2002 Olympic Coverage, KSL.com. 
5.  “Special Report: The Games That Got Away,” 2002 Olympic Coverage, KSL.com.  Colorado Voter Survey, Ridder/Braden, Inc. and Negative Population Growth, March 2001. 
6. Table A. Leading States/Equivalents by population Changes: July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006. U.S. Census Bureau. 
7.  Ibid 
8.  Susan Greene, “Colorado’s New Face Front Range Catapults ‘90s Population Explosion,” Denver Post, March 20, 2001. 
9. Rachel Brand and John Rebchook. “Smart or Sprawl? Already the State’s 3rd-Largest City, Aurora to Boost its Population by 80,000,” Rocky Mountain News, October 19, 2002. 
10.  “State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-Federal Land Developed,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. 
11.  Burt Hubbard, “State Growing Despite Woes,” Rocky Mountain News, December 21, 2002. 
12.  Brand and Rebchook, op. cit. 
13.  “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau. 
14.  “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990,” 1990 Census, U.S. Census Bureau. 
15. "The 2005 Urban Mobility Report", Texas Transportation Institute. 
16.  Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
17. Todd Hartman, “Growth, Cars Cast Shadow Over Future Air Quality,” Rocky Mountain News, July 29, 2002. 
18.  “U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet,” Population Reference Bureau. 
19. Melanie Worley and Joe Rice, op. cit. 
20.  "Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-  2000," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. 
21. Debra Gerald and William Hussar, “Projections of Education Statistics to 2010,” National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. 
22. Hector Gutierrez, “Douglas Group Urges 10 New Schools,” Rocky Mountain News, June 8, 2000. 
23. Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment, High School  Completions, and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S Department of Education. 
24. Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau. 
25. Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today, July 2, 2002. 
26. Randy Capps, “Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001. 
27. Steve Raabe and Anne Colden, “Denver’s Dubious Rank: No. 4 in Urban Sprawl,” Denver Post, November 2, 2000. 
28. Trent Siebert, “Town Stands Against Sprawl,” Denver Post, November 29, 2002. 
29. Sean Kelly, “CoPIRG Rips Projects as ‘Dumb Growth,” Denver Post, July 21, 2000. 
30. U.S. Census Bureau 2006. 
31.  Jack Martin, “Issue Brief: Estimation of Foreign Born Birthrate,” FAIR. 2008.
32. Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel, “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050,” FAIR, March 2006.
33. Daniel J. Weiss, Zoe Brown, “Learning the Worth of Water.” Center for American Progress. November 13, 2007.
34. Mark Jaffe. “Climate Change Hits the West,” Denver Post. May 28, 2008.
35. Sandra Postel and Brian Richter, Rivers of Life: Managing Water for People and Nature.,2003.
36. Patty Henetz, “Utah’s water forecast: Thirsty times are a-brewin’.” Salt Lake Tribune, May 31, 2008.
37. Researchers: Colorado River System is Unsustainable,” Water and Wastewater News, February 18, 2008.
38. Heidi Stevenson. “How Corporations Drain Our Aquifers for Profit (Part 2).” Natural News. June 11, 2008. 
39. Jerd Smith, “Need for Water Going Nowhere But Up,” Rocky Mountain News, September 10, 2002.
40.  Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
41.  “State of the Air 2005:Colorado”, American Lung Association.
42.  “Colorado State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.

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