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That is encouraging to me. It indicates that most of the water users and well owners 1D1derstand what we are up against and that this is not a matter in which we have a lot of discretion on how we bring about compact compliance. As David Robbins indicated, he doesn't 1D1derstand the arguments behind some of the takings issues, and we will have to let those be litigated before the water court. The Special Master is watching us closely. I want to emphasize that point as part of my conclusion. I testified at the end of October and in early November in Pasadena last year about what Colorado was doing to come into compact compliance. I submitted a report to the State of Kansas and to the Special Master which was used to tell him where we were at that time. He made it very clear that he will to continue to monitor what we try to accomplish within the next few months. I must testify in a hearing in March on where we are, how many protests we have had, the results of hearings by March, and what some of the augmentation entities are doing to bring about replacement of usable state line flows or augmentation of the river in Colorado. He further set a hearing in J1D1e giving Kansas the opportunity to then indicate their disagreements with where Colorado is going with respect to coming into compact compliance. I think he has made it clear that he will give Colorado every opportunity to take control of the situation and deal with it within Colorado. I think he recognizes that is the best way. We must, though, make sure that we are really and truly complying with the compact. The Special Master also made it very clear to me that if we fail, he will not hesitate to take control of the situation. As David indicated, we could end up with a Federal River Master in control of the river, and that is not desirable. We have three federal reservoirs in this basin -- Pueblo Reservoir, Trinidad Reservoir and John Martin Reservoir -- and they could be utilized by federal entities to bring about compact compliance. I don't think we want that. In the alternative, he could issue an order to enjoin all post-compact pumping in Colorado, which is what Kansas sought in 1995, and he told them he would not do that, He wanted to see what Colorado was attempting to accomplish before he would enjoin or curtail pumping in Colorado. My opinion is, Colorado is taking significant steps to deal with the issue. We are working on important legislation that would provide funding to acquire permanent augmentation water and provide resources to my office to enforce the new rules. We will need about nine additional staff in the field and in the Pueblo Office to properly enforce these rules. The key to success is proper enforcement so that those who elect to ignore the rules can be brought before the water judge quickly so we can make it clear that we cannot allow people to ignore this important issue. I think the water users and the gro1D1dwater entities have made significant progress in developing cooperative plans to deal with the issue. Within a matter of months, Colorado should be in a position to fully replace depletions to usable state line flow in 1996, and will have made a significant step toward replacing depletions to senior vested water rights in Colorado. Arkansas River Basin Water Forum 26 itA River of Dreams and Realities"