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~'~8 '11 TZ I'Itr. GREA'mtDENVERaTHEWEST.7 Baroque polltics clouds our water Pink shorts. Before Gov. Roy Romer agrees to let California borrow .00;000 acre-feet of precious Colorado water for emergency use this year, he ought to talk to that woman with blond hair and'pink shorts who was spend- ing last Saturday afternoon smoking long, thin cigarettes at Santa Monica heach. Hold that thought for a min- ute while we sort out some random facts about California's 5.year-oId drought. It's been in aU the newspapen, Cali- fornia either hasn't enough water or too many folks. The impact on the state's aJriculture is serious. It lookllftS though we'U have to pay more for California's tasteless peaches and rubbery tomatoes this summer. Los Angelenos (Los Angelites? Los Ange- /ant? Whatever) are still,keeping up their 1aWll$ and washing their Porsches, but swimming pools are drying up. Even so, plucky citizens are making the best of the rainiest days by getting in extra sets of tennis or rounds of golf. And then there are those long, sun-drl!llChed afternoons at the beacb. And 80 WhY" our governor wprrying his curly head about Cali!ornia's water shortage? We have something of a water shortage of our , own down in the San Luis Valley and in other farming communities. . Actually, the water Romer wants to loan California is no longer here, but stored in Lake Mead, just a couple hundred miles from L.A. The 400,000 acre-feet is more water than metro Denver uses in an entire year. In retum, Romer wants California to agree to reduce its demand by 800.000 acre-feet in the future. 002736 ~ By legallegeidemain, this agreement would protect Upper Colorado River Basin statel from being denied their rights to the water. Are you still awake? That's the problem with water stories; they cause one's eyes to ilue and lose focus. But hey, pal, it's either this or yet another column on the Mother of AU Airports. Anyhow, Romer must figure we have noth- ing to lose by helpin, to slake the thirst of psrched southern CaJifornians. My only pro~ lem with this is that California won't reduce its water consumption. . Our f.'aty Ueutenant .overnor has broken with Romer on the iasue. Mike Callihan favors a plan endorsed by Rep. Ben Niahthorse Campbell, D-CoIo., who ~ta to 1ease water to California and use the money to build water projects in Colorado. Do you suppose it is just a coincidence that while Romer 18 offerin, water to California that his name is hein, floated as a possible Demo- aatic presidential eaadidate? There sure are a lot of delepte votes in Callfornia, and Romer's offer is ,aining him name recognition. In California, name recognition is everything. Still fresh in my mind, though, is the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Fran- cisco. Gary Hart had a lock on the California delegation, but Walter Mondale had enough delegates to win the nomination before the California dele,ation wu polled. Democrats from the West have never done weU in national I!Olitics. You do reml=mber Jerry "Space Ship Earth" Brown, don't you? . Db, yes, it's about the blond lady an pinIc shorts at Santi: Monica beach. The Feb. 23 edition of The LosAnge/es Timelquotca her as gym" "We don't want a drougilt, but we don't want It to rain, either." She thought it best to remain anonymoua since she was ditehing work to improve her tan. "We want to keep stealing water from Colorado," ahe said. . Geu A.mole's column appears Sunday, TrmdDy ~. I tnd !}unda" . , I '. . .:,.. I I J I . II .... .... '" ~. . ~ I ..c... . ".. I . . ~ I - I. ;. '.