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<br />DENVER ROCKYMQUNTAIN NEWS
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<br />Mile High Suburbs'
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<br />Eric Brown, Sub!,lrban Ed,tor ~ (303) ,892-5261 · e-mail -' suburban@RockyMountainNews;com
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<br />High court rejects water plan
<br />
<br />Not enough reserves..
<br />fof reservoir near .
<br />Gunnison, justices say
<br />
<br />.By Karen Abbott .
<br />News StaffWrlter
<br />. Colorado's.. highest court has
<br />nixed an Arapahoe County plan to .
<br />AR.APAH. OE. supply water to.
<br />400,000' Fro.nt
<br />! COUNTY. .. Rang,e residents by ·
<br />drawmg water from
<br />the Western Slope's Gunnison
<br />. River basin into a huge reservoir
<br />northeast of-Gunnison.' .
<br />'The state Supreme' Court rilled
<br />Monday. that there isn't enough
<br />unaIlocated water in the Gunnison
<br />River .basin for the' proposed
<br />'900,OOO-acre-foot Union I>ark
<br />
<br />Reservoir, The cou~ty had esti-
<br />mated the project would cost half a
<br />. billion dollars, inciuding a tunnel to
<br />carry the water through the Rocky
<br />Mountains, ..
<br />"It's certainly a setback," Frank
<br />Jaeger, a member of the UniorfPark
<br />Water Authority's board, said,
<br />Arapahoe County Commissioner
<br />M&rie Mackenzie said. the south
<br />metro area still needs water:
<br />"It may be that we~ll have to con-
<br />trac~ with the United States Bureau .
<br />of Reclamation for water," Macken-
<br />zie.said,' .
<br />The Supreme Court's ruling
<br />Monday left ()pen that possibility.
<br />The bureau legally controls most of
<br />. the. water that Arapahoe. County
<br />wants,
<br />Mackenzie and Jaeger said it was
<br />too soon to know what steps the'
<br />
<br />county and others rtJ.igh~ take next,
<br />since officials involved in the water
<br />. dispute hadn't yet had a c~ce to
<br />discuss Monday's ruling.
<br />Fast-growing Arapahoe County,
<br />had hoped to draw wat~r from the
<br />Western Slope to supply residents
<br />now dependent on.water wells that
<br />might dry up, or water that Denver
<br />and other area governments are,
<br />willing to sell,'
<br />The Supreme Court's 56~page
<br />. unanimous ruling, written by Ju~
<br />tice Rebecca Kourlis, upheld a wa-
<br />ter GOurt's decision in a hotly. con-
<br />tested legal battle that has. raged
<br />since 1986, Colorado Attorney
<br />General Ken Salazar said Monday
<br />that the lengthy court fight ):ias cost
<br />more than $6. million. . ..
<br />Salazar said Arapahqe . County
<br />and o~er organizations now must
<br />find other ways to supply more.
<br />
<br />water to the fast-growing southern
<br />metropolitan area, . .
<br />'. Sal~ar, whose staff opposed the
<br />reserVoir. plan in court, applauded
<br />the ruling.
<br />"The Colorado Supreme Court
<br />has acted to protect Coloraclo water.
<br />. rights and Colorado's system of
<br />water appropriationj" he said in a
<br />statement. '"
<br />Arapahoe County, and later the
<br />Union. Park Water Authority, had .
<br />argued that technicalities' in how
<br />water from the Gunnison. River
<br />. basin. is legally aUocatedamong
<br />various' U:s~ts meant. that enough
<br />'water was available for the pro-'
<br />. posed reservqir. .: .. ": ...
<br />But the. Slipreme . Court said it
<br />didn't agree with the county's cal-
<br />. culitions. ,of how much water IS
<br />
<br />. See WATER on 22A
<br />
<br />00/",
<br />. . ,,-<JtJ
<br />
<br />.. Court disputes, .
<br />
<br />.coun~'sfigures
<br />
<br />WATER from' 20A . .
<br />available. ,
<br />Many Western Slope water u
<br />. ers and governments oPP9sed tJ
<br />idea of taking water from the G~
<br />nison River basin to support tl
<br />. growth of Front Range cities a:
<br />suburbs,
<br />Most of the water is supposed
<br />be devoted to power generati<
<br />the Supreme Court &aid,
<br />Much.of the water flOWs into t
<br />Colorado River, from, which C.
<br />orado is required to. provide a c(
<br />tain amount of water to seve
<br />other states. Several reservo
<br />. store the water so enough will
<br />a.vailable in dry years., .,'
<br />Other water from the Gunnis
<br />River basin is legally allocated :
<br />irrigation, flood. control, boath
<br />the support, of fish and wildlife. a
<br />a variety of other purposes. Arno
<br />. other. ~ngs, the water fills t
<br />Blue. Mesa Reservoirl .heart 0:
<br />national recreation area that dra
<br />more than a, million, visitors ec
<br />. . year, the Supreme Court said.
<br />The high ~ourt rejected. Ara
<br />hoe County's arguments that
<br />water needs should outrank 5\
<br />uses. as flood control and ree
<br />ational boating and fishing.
<br />
<br />Contact Karen Abbott at (303) 892.51:
<br />or abboW<@RockyMountaInNews.com.
<br />. 5taff writer Marlys Duran contributed t
<br />this "port.' , .
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