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<br />~J "", <br /> <br />iIff#. <br /> <br />~ EAGLE RIVER WATER & SANITATION DrSTRIC <br /> <br />UPPER EAGLE REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY <br />846 Forest Road + Vail, Colorado 81657 <br />+ Phone (970) 476-7480 + FAX (970) 476-4089 + <br />erwsd@erws4.org + Www.elWsd.org <br /> <br /> <br />One of the primary messages of the resounding negative vote on Referendum A is that State dictated <br />solutions on water issues are not needed or wanted. Rather, what are needed are local and regional solutions <br />spearheaded by the actual water providers working with area citizen groups, not political appointees or State <br />bureaucrats. <br /> <br />Now the same people who were behind the defeated Referendum A are trumpeting something called the <br />Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI). Don't be fooled - SWSI is a Referendum A "wolf' in "sheep's" <br />clothing as the solution to local water supply issues~ We couldn't disagree more with Commissioner Stone. As <br />its name indicates, SWSI is a State sponsored study headed by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) <br />that was designed to select the large water development projects that would be funded by Referendum A. The <br />CWCB is the State agency that spearheaded the fight against the Town afVail's in-channel recreational water <br />right (Wllich the CWCB lost); and has no one on its board who represents Eagle County or the recreation based <br />industry . <br /> <br />Moreovert the make-up of the SWSI Technical Round Table advising the CWCB is dominated by <br />political appointees who do not represent the cities~ townst and water districts that are charged with the <br />responsibility to provide water and sewer service, and will actually pay for any water supply project. Equally <br />important is the fact that there is not a single person on the SWSI technical roundtable that represents Eagle <br />County recreational water users and only one out of the 27 members has any cOlUlection at all to the recreation <br />based industry, the most important industry on Colorado's western slope. That individual, h~wever, is not from <br />Eagle County. <br /> <br />Water supply solutions need to be worked out at the local and regional level. A case in point are the on- <br />going negotiations among Aurora, Denver, the Colorado River District, Eagle River water providers and area <br />citizen groups. Recently heralded by the Rocky Mountain'News as a model for achieving cooperative water <br />solutions, this is an effort to develop limited, responsible, environmentally sensitive water projects that share <br />resources and provide for everyone's water needs, but at the same time protects the west slope and water for <br />recreation; the fish and .aesthetics. <br /> <br />Unfortunately, that is the same process which would have been undercut by Referendum A, and now <br />potentially could be hindered by SWSI. We trust and only hope that SWSI will be no more successful ~an, and <br />will meet the same fate as, Referendum A. In the interim, we intend to continue the ongoing process with Aurora, <br />Denvert and area citizen groups in an effort to achieve a meaningful and lasting resolution of Eagle River water <br />issues. <br /> <br />Rick Sackbauer, President <br />Eagle River Water & Sanitation District <br /> <br />Robert Warnert President <br />Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority <br /> <br />Glenn E. Porzak, Special Water Counsel <br />Eagle River Water & Sanitation District and) <br />Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority <br /> <br />F:\l SWSD\lADMIN\BOARD\LEITERS\2003\SWSI VDAIL- Y.DOC <br />