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<br />Comments to SWSf, November 3J 2003, by John Wiener <br /> <br />34 <br /> <br />But the troubre is when that farmerls gone and his water ;s gone, then the bank will be gone, too, <br />and the whore ag economY4.. <br /> <br />Rather than amplifying on water [easing programs, Soanga said the state needs to build more <br />water storage vessels and adopt strong mitigation laws ..so that when some city wants to buy <br />water they have to show they.re making full reuse of the water they have and they have made ' <br />maximum effort to buy water within their own basin first II <br /> <br />..We have to work on the supply end as well as the demand end · but to make it easier for a large <br />municIpality to buy water from outside its basin is not the way to go,.' he said. <br /> <br />@1996-2002 The pueblo Chieftain Online <br /> <br />Appendix 2: Another story which mentions the fears of the new leasing: <br /> <br />Denver Post "Eco-groups: Conservationt not dams, can supply watert.. By Thea Stein, Denver <br />Post Environment Writer <br /> <br />WednesdaYt January 15, 2003 - The Front Range can weather future droughts without big new <br />dams by leasing water from farmers, dredging and enlarging existing reservoirs, and reducing <br />demand. according to a new report from ~o environmental groups. <br /> <br />Hydrologist Dan Luecke~ one of the report's primary authors~ suggested that cities should enter <br />into long-term agreements with farmers to let fields lie fanow during dry spens, which would save <br />. more water for cities. <br /> <br />.'The cost of buying insurance this way is a lot cheaper and quicker than buying concrete for new <br />dams.u said Luecke, the former regional director of Environmental Defense4 <br /> <br />In fact, many Front Range communities, faced with potential shortages, are scrambling to do just <br />that. Aurora, Broomfield and Thornton are already working on deals with farmers that could dry <br />up as much as 10,000 acres this year to keep city taps frowing. <br /> <br />Farmers and rural regislators worry that temporary Jeases of agricultura' water wHI become <br />permanentf drying up the farm economy. <br /> <br />The report, commissioned by Trout Unlimited and the Colorado Environmental Coalition, <br />suggests that market-driven leases of agricultural water, in conjunction with other measurest can <br />address drought-driven shortfans. <br /> <br />It also recommends drawing water from the deep aqujfers under the Denver basin in dry times <br />and recharging them during wet years, and using the existing network of pipelines and channers <br />to shift water around the region more efficjently. <br /> <br />UBig new storage as drought insurance is not the answer, ,. said Trout Unlimited water attorney <br />Melinda Kassen. tlWe believe the principles outUned in this report are a faster, better, cheaper <br />and more <br />env;ronmentaJly friendly way to ensure sustainabre water supplies in the future. n <br /> <br />Kassan said the report was designed to help inform debate at the statehouse, where bilfs calling <br />for new reservoirs and expensive pump-back projects have garnered all the head~ines. <br /> <br />But Aurora water manager Peter Binney, who is counting on reased agricultural water to help get <br />his city through the year, says the report's proposals wiU falf short <br />