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<br />4-14 Senate Committee <br />Interviewer, Interviewee <br /> <br />Page 22 of 37 <br /> <br />Chairman: That's fine, please proceed Margy. <br /> <br />MaJ~fOJ Christiansen: In discussion of this oh for a long, long time, the City of Aurora is <br />here in support and in strong support because through the past 50 <br />years or so we have been a very small agricultural community that <br />has now progressed in the second largest community in the state of <br />Colorado. And with that so have our need for water for a <br />population that is ever increasing of which we have no control on <br />that. <br /> <br />During the past three years with the advent of the drought that <br />we've gone through, we also had no control of that either, and I <br />think it brought home to all of us, that two things were absolutely <br />imperative one of which was the acquisition of water in order to <br />feed our thirsty population at the municipality and second was how <br />would we arrive at that acquisition. <br /> <br />About two years at the Colorado's Cattlemen Association <br />convention in the summer, one of the biggest questions brought <br />before their water committee of which I am a member of that and <br />have been for 22 years; and the reason that this came up was what <br />are we going to do about thirsty municipalities particularly in the <br />middle of this heavy drought, how can we handle this? <br /> <br />At that time I said in a room of individuals who are agricultural <br />background and who most everybody in that room and in that <br />membership is also in Ag. water rights owner. One of the <br />questions that came at that time is in so many discussions that all <br />of us attend and I will apply that "all of us" to all of us in this room <br />now today. <br /> <br />There is a discussion brought about who's water right is it anyway? <br />And you have the agricultural person who right now, I think is <br />feeling somewhat besieged and maligned, and they're sitting there <br />saying I have provided water for years and years and I have paid <br />for the opportunity to do that. With that came the other question of <br />I need to be at the round table. <br /> <br />So I'm sitting there representing the municipality of Aurora and <br />also being an Ag. producer of my own and water right owner from <br />the western slope, and I found that to be probably the most <br />compelling moment to think about the fi.lture of water for Aurora <br />and the state of Colorado. <br /> <br />www.escriptionist.com <br /> <br />Page 22 of 37 <br />