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August 7, 2007 <br />Mr. John Stulp <br />Mr. Harris Sherman <br />Co - chair men Water Task Force <br />Colorado Department of Agriculture <br />700 Kipling Street, S uite 4000 <br />Lakewood, CO 80215 <br />Dear John and Harris: <br />I regret that I have not been able to attend any of your task for ce h earings, so I am writing my <br />recommendation s to you. <br />1. Since there is a study showing that all wells drilled before 1958 had no adverse effect on <br />the Platte River I would strongly recomme nd that the State Legislature amend the 196 9 <br />Sen ate Bill #81 to all ow all wells drilled prior to 1958 be allowed to pump without any <br />augmentation. A similar action was taken on Senate Bill #120 on evaporation loss of <br />gravel pits. <br />2. We have been blessed this year with an abundant snow pack and so far a record amount <br />of rai nfall filling every reservoir and all the wetlands. In my 62 years of farming I have <br />never witnessed a year like this where there was no call on the Platte River. Therefore <br />there should be a formula where we as well users should not have to replace deple tions, <br />where it is replaced by the act of God. This should not have any impact or undermine the <br />prior appropriation doctrine we follow. <br />3. Return the administration of the river and the wells back to the S tate W ater E ngineer to <br />manage , including the augmenta tion of wells. Also any entity that appears at an <br />augmentation hearing to object must have actual engineering proof of injury on the <br />specific are a they represent. <br />4. We need more reservoirs to store water during these wet years. The future destiny of <br />nort heastern Colorado agriculture lies on your shoulders. No community, state or nation <br />can survive without a strong viable agriculture economy. <br />Thank you for taking your valuable time in serving on this most important task force. <br />Sincerely, <br />Robert Y Saka ta <br />Sakata Farms Inc. <br />th <br />P.O. Box 508 • South 4 and Bromley Lane • Brighton, CO 80601 - 0508 <br />