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<br />The Steamboat Pilot: City asked to look at recreation water rights <br /> <br />OD32J4 <br /> <br />Page 2 0[2 <br /> <br />Wilson said. <br /> <br />The city has time, he said. Unlike the towns of Golden, Pueblo and Lafayette, the Yampa River has not reached the <br />point where it is over adjudicated and people are raiding water rights. <br /> <br />"It seems to be the sky is falling sort of thing, and I don't want you to think that it is," Wilson told the commission. <br />"We have time to be prudent and to make good choices." <br /> <br />The more than $100,000 in legal fees it could take to acquire water rights is another obstacle for the city in a tight <br />budget year. The need for water rights would have to be weighed over the requests for new ball fields, parks and <br />trails, Wilson said. <br /> <br />The Parks and Rec Commission decided to hand the issue to the Rivers and Trails Committee and the Community <br />Advisory Committee, which has been working on the Yampa River Management Plan. Both committees have been <br />looking at recreational water rights and have established it as a high priority. <br /> <br />Those committees would give a recommendation back to the Parks and Rec Commission, who could then choose to <br />pass along a recommendation to the City Council. <br /> <br />Brenner also raised the question of the city using Trout, Witwer and Freeman, P.c. as its legal water attorneys when <br />those same attorneys argued against the May 19 supreme court case. <br /> <br />"The people defending against this are the people we have been using as legal advisers for how to get this project <br />completed," Brenner said. <br /> <br />Wilson admitted the situation has raised some red flags within the city but said the firm has been the water attorney <br />for several years and deals with the city's enormous water portfolio that extends far beyond recreational water rights. <br />He also said the attorneys have not been asked to start the legal process of getting recreational water rights. <br /> <br />Copyright @ 2002 The Steamboat Pilot, all rights reserved <br />Visit us at http://www.steamboatpilot.com <br /> <br />http://www.steamboatpilot.comlsectionl archi ve/storypr/l 7358 <br /> <br />4/23/2004 <br />