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<br />,.{ <br /> <br />.~/ <br /> <br />LAWMA has stepped forward to acquire permanent water <br />rights and to provide augmentation service for its members into the <br />future, It has announced its intention to comply with reasonable <br />rules and regulations covering ground water pumping and has set <br />about to achieve that compliance, It currently has under option a <br />major water rights property known as the X,Y, Ranch east of Lamar <br />and has obtained authority to borrow water from the Colorado Water <br />Conservation Board Construction Fund to make the downpayment on <br />that set of water rights as well as others this fall, LAWMA <br />intends to seek further loan authority from the construction fund <br />to complete that purchase during the next upcoming legislative <br />session, It hopes to have those water rights on-line and included <br />in its augmentation plan for the summer of 1996 in order to comply <br />with the rapid phase - in of the State Engineer's new rules and <br />regulations, <br /> <br />Inclusion of these water rights into the plan for <br />augmentation will be done on an informal administrative basis <br />pursuant to the State Engineer's substitute supply plan authority <br />for the near term, LAWMA contemplates, operating on this basis for <br />a few years in order to gain operating experience and allow some of <br />the details of the plan to settle out, Presumably, this plan as <br />well as the plans of other well user organizations will be taken <br />through formal Water Court adjudication in the future, <br /> <br />The Bottom Line <br /> <br />For well users, compliance with rules and regulations <br />comes down to the cost per acre-foot of water pumped, It is clear <br />that there will be change in the administration of water rights on <br />the Arkansas River and that ground water pumping will be regulated, <br />LAWMA and its members acknowledge that fact, The basic concept of <br />rules and regulations is a reasonable one, The test is what will <br />be the cost of living with them, <br /> <br />It is important that unnecessary controversy and <br />litigation costs be avoided, Financial assistance from the State <br />of Colorado in providing reasonable cost loans for the acquisition <br />of water rights is crucial, Certainty as to the rules of the game <br />and what it takes to comply will be critically important, as will <br />be the knowledge that the rules and regulations are being uniformly <br />enforced and all well users are carrying their share of the burden, <br />There will need to be reasonable operational flexibility, <br />presumably relying on John Martin Reservoir to the greatest extent <br />possible, in implementing the details of augmentation, <br /> <br />Based on these concepts, LAWMA is prepared to comply and <br />to provide some leadership within Colorado toward bringing the <br />State into compliance with the Compact and bringing about <br />administration of Colorado water rights on the Arkansas, <br /> <br />3 <br />