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Steamboat Springs — If the Colorado Department of Transportation told local officials a new state highway was coming through Routt County, the construction would proceed almost entirely on the state's terms.

Routt County officials are working to change that.

The Routt County Planning Commission tonight will continue its review of policies known as 1041 regulations, which, if enacted, would give Routt County a much stronger voice in projects brought to the county by other entities.

"1041 regulations don't encourage or prohibit anything. What they do is give a county more local control over projects done by other government agencies," Routt County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said Wednesday. "What they really enable us to do is deal with other water districts, other municipalities and other state agencies - otherwise, they would really be able to dictate" conditions of development.

As an example, Mitsch Bush cited the Homestake II case, which occurred in the mid-1990s in Eagle County. Front Range municipalities including Aurora and Colorado Springs attempted to divert water from Eagle County to the Front Range, and took the county to court when officials opposed the project. After a lengthy legal battle, Eagle County prevented the trans-basin water diversion, largely on the basis of its 1041 regulations.

A major trans-basin diversion could be coming to Routt County.

The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District has financed a study exploring routes to pump water from the Yampa River, near the Moffat County town of Maybell. The $4 billion, 16-year project - a proposal only in the feasibility stage - would pump Yampa River water for more than 200 miles, across the Continental Divide, likely to Barr Lake near Denver International Airport.

All three pipeline routes proposed in the project pass through Routt County.

"Obviously, that was part of what precipitated this, but that's not going to be the first or the last, I would imagine," Mitsch Bush said, adding 1041 regulations also could mitigate a large-scale state utility project.

The Routt County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to review 1041 regulations Aug. 27. The Planning Commission and County Commissioners will hold additional public meetings on the topic in September and October.

Chad Phillips, director of county planning, said he hopes the public becomes more involved in the 1041 adoption process.

"It's kind of hard to get people to show up unless they're upset about something, and I can't think of any case where a local would be upset by these regulations," Phillips said. "I think the community would like that safety net - but we haven't heard that yet."