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<br />Ju 1 26\ 07 02: 25p <br /> <br />p.3 <br /> <br />quickly abandoned, because of strong opposition between Colorado's water short and surplus <br />ri ver basins. The water studies, authorized by the legislature since S WSI, are again focused on <br />detailed reviews of individual basin needs and compact entitlements, instead of Colorado's <br />available statewide solutions. <br /> <br />About 85% of Colorado's water originates west of the Divide, while about 85% of its city and <br />farm needs are east of the Divide, Department of Interior Consumptive Uses and Losses Reports <br />indicate Colorado has only been using about 60% of its Colorado River Compact entitlements <br />since the 1970's. Colorado's minor Compact usage gains have been largely offset by the west <br />slope's steady conversion from irrigated farming to tourism. Under Colorado's Constitution, <br />unallocated interstate compact entitlements belong to all Coloradans - not just the basin of <br />ongm. <br /> <br />Colorado is currently experimenting with a unique Basin Roundtable and Inter-basin Compact <br />Committee concept to negotiate and allocate unused state waters between basins. This unusual <br />grass roots approach to strategic water planning may eventually bridge the historic institutional <br />barriers between basins. However, this complex decision process may not be timely to save <br />Colorado's threatened fanus and compact entitlements from the political pressures of explosive <br />urban growth throughout the Southwestern Region. <br /> <br />All Coloradans should be especially concerned with the west slope's current position that <br />Colorado should bank: its remaining Colorado River Compact entitlements in Lake Powell to <br />prevent future Lower Basin calls on our existing trans-mountain projects. If this thinking <br />prevails, Colorado's economic and environmental future is in deep trouble. <br /> <br />Near-term Solutions Colorado is fortunate to have two private initiatives that could quickly <br />solve its water shortages and farm crisis with Colorado's wasted Colorado River Compact <br />entitlements. <br /> <br />Aaron Million's Flaming Gorge Pumpback proposal via Utah and Wyoming is viable, because it <br />would bypass Colorado's west slope institutional and political barriers with a long pipeline from <br />a large existing Bureau of Reclamation reservoir. <br /> <br />Natural Energy's proposed Central Colorado Project (CCP) is a paradigm natural resources <br />breakthrough. It can jointly use two existing Bureau reservoirs with its high altitude Union Park <br />Pumped-Storage Site. This integrated storage complex, totaling 2.3 million acre-feet, can <br />multiply the reliability, productivity, and quality of existing renewable energy and water <br />resources throughout the Gunnison, Colorado, South Platte, Arkansas, and Rio Grande river <br />systems. CCP's flexible gravity augmentations can also compensate for highly variable climate <br />changes. CCP's unprecedented resource multiplier capabilities are briefly described in the <br />previously provided Central Colorado Project White Paper, dated April 19, 2007. <br /> <br />A farsighted team of natural resources planners can use advanced computer simulations to <br />provide a preliminary, NEPA required, seoping comparison of Colorado's CCP and Flaming <br />Gorge options within a few months, The first construction phases of both projects could be <br />