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<br />What To Do About It <br />Steve Arveschoug, General Manager <br />Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District <br /> <br />., <br /> <br />I prepared two speeches today, not both for here, but I am charged with the responsibility to offer a presentation to the <br />Board of Deacons at the First Baptist ChW"ch here in Pueblo. When I left the house today I wanted to make SW"e I got the <br />right presentation so that I wouldn't be giving you the one that was intended for the Board of Deacons but as I sat here <br />and listened. I may have more to offer, may have more wisdom from the prophet Neiamiah in the Old Testament. than <br />my original speech would have. In the second chapter of Nehemiah the prophet was talking to the twelve tribes of <br />Israel. Understand that Jerusalem had just been devastated as it had over the centuries in the Old Testament. and his <br />charge was to try and rebuild the wall around the remaining portions of the city of Jerusalem. He had twelve very <br />diverse tribes with different leaders and different opinions on how things ought to come together. So, it may be better if <br />I continue on with the second chapter of Nehemiah than to talk about well augmentation because we have some of the <br />same challenges. I know that in any respect. a little prayer in this process probably wouldn't hwt matters. <br /> <br />Let me offer three challenges to the group today and then let me get into a discussion of a program that we think is going <br />to make sense in terms of meeting these challenges and the things that are before us. <br /> <br />Our first challenge, as you have heard here today, is to understand that the court has ruled. A decision has been made. at <br />least on the first phase of the trial by the United States Supreme Court. The reason that I reinforce that is because. in my <br />role as General Manager Southeast District. we did a little survey. We sent out about a thousand questionnaires to well <br />owners that are within the boundaries of the southeast DistriCL Some of you may have received a copy of that survey. In <br />fact. one of you may be the person I'm going to talk about in terms of responding to oW" survey. We got a bunch of those <br />surveys back. but on one of the surveys there was nothing but a few words. h didn't put a name, address or any kind of <br />follow-up that we could make. The only thing the survey said. and it wasn't even written in the lines of the comment <br />section but diagonally across the survey, was "tell Kansas to go to hell!" Now Mark, I don't say that despairingly <br />against you. a good neighbor from Kansas, but I share that with you because our first challenge is to realize that one, the <br />cowt has ruled. We may like to offer that comment to Kansas but we have a decision by the United States Supreme <br />Cowt and an obligation to oW" compact that we have to meet. So that is challenge nwnber one. To realize that the court <br />has ruled. <br /> <br />Challenge number two is to realize that Hal will be working over the next 30-60 days to finalize his rulemaking process, <br />and however those rules come out we will be obligated to work within the bOlmdaries of those rules. Whether we know <br />how all the intricacies of those rules are going to function or not. those rules will be the game plan as to how we function <br />and meet oW" obligation for well augmentation. So that's challenge nwnber two, to play on that game plan -- those rules. <br /> <br />Challenge number three is to avoid competing to provide the solution. Everybody has a different sense of how we crack <br />this nut and how we provide a solution. One of the things that I have learned in my short tenW"e with the conservancy <br />district and working on this issue, that many of you have probably known for a long time, is that folks in the agriculture <br />community are a very, very independent bunch. I would share a story about one of them who keeps time a little bit <br />differently than the rest of us because of concerns about daylight savings time and that was enacted several years ago. <br />But. I won't share that story. Very independent booCh. so we all have a different perspective on how to provide the <br />solution. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />We have spent the last several months working with surface right holders, augmentation groups and groundwater <br />groups, trying to come up with a program that we thought made some sense, and we have devised what we call the <br />"coordinated augmentation program." I am here to tell you today it's probably not a perfect program. but it's going to <br />be a program that we're going to try to operate ooder, at least the first year, <br /> <br />Arkansas River Basin Water Forwn <br /> <br />27 <br /> <br />"A River of Dreams and Realities" <br /> <br /> <br />Let me first give you the goals of that program are and then I'll get into a little bit more detail. Frrst. as we entered into <br />this discussion we felt that it was important for the district and the other entities as we looked at a program for well <br />augmentation or replacement water that the program be a credible program. You have heard today concerns conveyed <br />that we do not want the Special Master from the United States Supreme Court to appoint a River Master, so anything <br />