SanJuanDoloresSanMiguelComments03

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I ; ..~, ..; ~ 2nd Round SWSI Comments For the San JuanIDolores Basin 12/12/03 Peter Butler, Ph.D. Potential Solutions In examining the SWSI draft future demand projections for the San luan/Dolores Basin, it is apparent that meeting future municipal and domestic uses should be relatively easy and that agricultural water use demands are not expected to increase. I would argue that agricultural demand will probably decline as population grows and more agricultural land is developed.. Maintaining agriculture is one of the SWSI objecti Yes. Agriculture provides many benefits to society that are hard to quantify~ including but not limited to open space for wildlife and aesthetic views, cultural heritage, community stability and groundwater recharge. Nationally and locally, people have recognized these non-monetary benefits and have been willing to subsidize agriculture through commodity price supports, conservation reserve programs, reduced taxes and construction of water projects. The issue that is really driving increased water development in our basin is keeping agriculture viable during water short years~ One solution is to build more storage to -carry over water from wet years to dry years. But is that the cheapest, most workable solution? Instead of subsidized water development, why not subsidize drought insurance~ An insurance program would be less controversial, faster to implement, and presumably cheaper+ In addition, it could be utilized by all farmers and ranchers in the region who have limited water supplies. The San Juan! Dolores basin has eight rivers, and there are a number of "have's" and "hav:e not's" when it comes to water in each sub-basin. The "have's" generally rely on Bureau of Reclamation projects. The "have not's" have not been so lucky. Each new storage project will benefit only a few Hhave not's" in a sub-basin, whereas a drought insurance program could benefit all the "have nots" in the region.