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<br />2 · Gunnison Country Titnes · ThursdJY,. February 5, 2004
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<br />A day with the
<br />Water Buffaloes:
<br />The 'State of the Water 2004'
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<br />[ just got back from' an
<br />1nual descent into the ~
<br />~ny of tlle beast to hang }.
<br />Jr a couple of days with .
<br />:olorados water buffalo,
<br />l the 46lh Annun 1 Con-
<br />ention of the Colorado
<br />vater Congress. Ge~rge Sibley
<br />The Colorado Wa ter .
<br />:ongress is an, organizaLion that
<br />ulls together the states water man..
<br />gers1 water conservancies and
<br />onservalion cllslricts, water cogi..
<br />.eers1 waler auomeys~ and a sntat..
<br />~ring of waler scientists :and
<br />nvironmenLalists ~lO prOl11ote the
<br />t1se management and 5 lewards hi p
<br />f the Slates waler resources for the
<br />tenerit of Colorados present and
<br />U lure generations.1't
<br />The ,\'aler buffalo of Co (oraclo
<br />:onlinue to promote the C0111-
<br />~ing posl-\VVVII vision Lhal Lhcre
<br />\'ere no ] imi lS to 1,\o'hat Americnns
<br />:ouJd do through the application of
<br />echnolog)~ mone}~ discipline and
<br />ngenullY to the challenges pre-
<br />;ented by natu re1 cOJumunism,
<br />leath, space and other perceived
<br />'problenlS. n
<br />The \Vater Congress rose lo i lS
<br />'un power in lhe 19605 and .'70s
<br />....hcn the federal govemment~
<br />hrough the Bureau of Redalru.lljon~
<br />Nas still pouring billions of dollars
<br />:oto the West for water develop..
<br />ment The water buffalo were led
<br />Lhen by West stope Congressman
<br />Warne Aspinall who, as chair of the
<br />House Interior Cotnlnittee, steered
<br />a lot of that money toward Col..
<br />orado for projects like the .Aspinall
<br />Unit dams west of Gunnison.
<br />Today, the federal money for
<br />water development has entirely
<br />dried up~ and the feds are now seen
<br />mostly as part of the pro btem.
<br />source of endless environmental
<br />rules and proscripuonst and many
<br />of the water buffalo along the Front
<br />Range are c,?nfronting the unantlc..
<br />ipaled consequences of <<getting
<br />what you wish for" in terms of
<br />growth.
<br />But the spirit of Aspinall is stHI
<br />the guiding light of the Water Con..
<br />gres.s - lhe last event of their annu..
<br />al convenlion is lo announce Lhe
<br />IlWayne Aspinall Water Leader of
<br />the Year" ..... and tlle annual conven..
<br />(jon is a good place to go lo find out
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<br />whats cooking with
<br />those who move and
<br />Inatlage the state.s
<br />W3ler.
<br />But w httt was cook-
<br />ing this YC.3r was most-
<br />ly a fairly high heal of
<br />consternation and con-
<br />fusion in the wake of
<br />the Referendum A debacle.
<br />The Water Cong.ress had sup-
<br />P?rled the referendum, and al..
<br />teulplcd to address this lass in a
<br />l11anner lha l was~ for a bunch of re-
<br />publicans (mosuy). a lot like a de~
<br />Jnocrat primary: they put about 20
<br />buffalo in a squared-off circle
<br />around the problem andl in v,rhat
<br />was euphemisticaII}r listed on ute
<br />program as "A Dialogue on Water
<br />Developlnent After Referendum
<br />Alii started firi ng at each other.
<br />SOlne of this dialogue deserved
<br />an IIRK mung - not just for the vcr-
<br />bnl violence. but an "Rn for
<br />"Rcrun1" since \ve had heard a lot
<br />or the same things said last year~
<br />and some of them for the last 40
<br />years, Tlds Inoved Jason Pchier1
<br />D~puty Assl. Secretary of [nlcrior
<br />for \Valer. and Scicnce1 to observe
<br />that h can be c~pafnfuf to \\'atch a
<br />d.iscussion where evcf}'body kn01NS
<br />what everrbody else is going La
<br />say.n
<br />But there were sonle dianlonds
<br />In 3.U the coal shoveled around lhat
<br />morning. West Slopers were in
<br />shon supply on the panel - Reeves
<br />Brown from Club 20 and Eric
<br />Kuhn from the Colorado River
<br />Water Conservation DjSlriCt. But
<br />Kuhn was brave enough to say
<br />what a lot of us are wondering over
<br />here: thaL there might not be any
<br />nmillion acre-feet of Colorado River
<br />water left lO develop as Colorado:?
<br />share of the river. n
<br />He \\tas engaging in what has
<br />generally been a no..no in Western
<br />water; looking at scientiac facts. He
<br />pointed first al the Colorado Rivers
<br />steady decline thro ugh the 20lh
<br />ccntul)'. from a 20..year LLa verage
<br />now;' of around 18 InilUon acre~fcet
<br />when the Colorado River Compact
<br />was signed in 1922, lo a 1 OO~ycar
<br />average lorlay of just over 15 InU..
<br />lion acre- feel.
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<br />See "rater on page 11
<br />
<br />Water.
<br />
<br />contin~'ed from page 2 · "idea the ewes 'studied last year
<br />But then he brought up the re.. with' a balf-million dollar budget,
<br />conslll.lcLlons or flows for the past . only to team that it was very. v~ry
<br />500 years. based on tree..rings and expensive. UteraUya "last straw:'
<br />other sludies. ~hich indicale the Nor was the:(e any indic:atioij
<br />longer.te.nn average flow is pro~a... from any of the Front Ranllers ~.
<br />hly "between 13 and 13.5 million' anyone is thinkin~ about Gunni-
<br />acre-feet.lI This basically mean~ . ;;on Basin water al this poinl- ex..
<br />that tlle Colorado River is alreadx cept for Dave Miller, of course,
<br />al full development and the~ who continues his, one-man'
<br />5.0 me. media-arid-mover blitz on behalf
<br />. Nobodv wanted to hear that of the Union Park proposat~
<br />On the internal front, AUrora~s .JI1etro water districts seem to be
<br />direclor or resources Ptter Binney workinlit closer to home, and on
<br />tried lo defuse some of the p41S~ ptore modest proiects, andmost of
<br />siol"Une agricultural representatives the managers there seem 10 think.
<br />who daimed that municipal that may well be Ute shape of ~
<br />growth was going to put Colorado future in water development:.. . .
<br />li!griculture ou t of business. He In 5Um~ from an Upper Gurmi...
<br />pointed out; first, Lhat no one was san perspective, there continues to
<br />Corcing lhe Arkansas River VaDer be a lot of general talk among the .
<br />farmers to sell their water LO the water buffalo about Mthe need tQ
<br />cities; the fanners were just mak;.. . develoo more stora2e~~ but ill!;
<br />ing good market-based decisions. . .body seems to be lookin~. specifi..
<br />And second, he pointed to the Og- cally. with any immediacy. allhe.
<br />ures about use: wiLh the farmers Upner Gunnison.- especially in
<br />now using dose to 90 percent of the wake of Referendum A. Not
<br />the \vater in the state, a doubling now~ Not yet. But like the ~an
<br />of v..at~r use in the metro area < said .:. ~Just because you1re para-
<br />would still leave more than 80 per.. noid doesn1t m~ they aren't out
<br />cent of Lhe water in agriculture. to get you. n.
<br />A number of lhe speakers fo...
<br />. .. ~
<br />cused on the C:VVCBs current State..rJ} ;;. ~
<br />Water Supply Iniliative sLudy ,... <!) e:
<br />) ..... .9 I '- 0
<br />(SW51 as a potentially positive 2 ~ -= +0 ~ 8. 00
<br />note for getting t.he state, organlzed co: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0
<br />for\\.aterdeve1opment. 5\V51 is an ~ 1-.i: E 4).- F U
<br />e/Tort to examine, basin by basin. .: 15 ~ 5.. 3 ~ ~ :i
<br />the waler resources and near-fu.. t.z :i g ~ t3 E 4 j
<br />Lure needs of each river basin in 0 0 ~ c: - =
<br />>... -= tI) .a .- a3 0 l-
<br />Colorado. The study will be com.. L.. eo · - ~ :> · - ~
<br />E=S'::=O)uE
<br />pleted in November. - e e ~ P:: ~ .,g a;
<br />But a problem with SWSl is the 5 .: en ~ = a E c.
<br />f l th i d. ~ tr.I Q.;).- ~ 0 c.. f"-
<br />ac at many peop e are OlOg ....... == :.a -= t? ~ - to
<br />exacllY'no"hat the speakers at the a3 ~ .3 or. -g ..0 .s tr}
<br />~Dialoguett said they shouldn~t do: = Q) tfJ tf.I to'):::: ~ ~
<br />Q) s- s...:: c 4_ !: 0
<br />bringing to the table the luggage CJ c... Q.) ca:: - CO
<br />from a century of interbasin mis- ~ ~ ..: eh U ttf 5 ...
<br />c: -= 0 ,,5 -= .2 t: ~
<br />trust~ ambiguous experience and ~ "C c.c - :> "'=T
<br />outright contention. Harold {.f,t ~ ::: ~- ..... ~ c: M
<br />t_ en ctI; (3 ~ c. l1) y
<br />Miske! of the CWCB said thal1 if ~ ~ gp ~ -C ~ ~ <
<br />SWS[ was to be useful. "people 5.-0. c:: 11) ~ ~ co ~
<br />have to be more open, and SlOP C) C b = c i' -.... ....
<br />being 50 paranoid and parochial:. ~ ca.. e ~.2 a: ~ 8'
<br />A.nolher speaker .said SWSI ~ n E-t :.= ~ ~ E ~
<br />_ t._ · c.. ~ ..._ en I
<br />couldn't SLlcceed if Ctpeople were ~ t;::; B c.. t'" ,-
<br />.- C C\J ::3 4J t~ en'" 00
<br />only al the table to keep their own Cf} 0 ~ en 4"': ;< ~ ~
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<br />ox rom getting gored. n c.o .... '- oS ~ e :f1 0\
<br />The "Dialaguen was notable for 8 5 ~ ca ~ 0 0 r::
<br />what wasn't discussed too. I heard c3.~ ::: ~"Vi ~ -a '-".
<br />no .mentio n at aU of I4The Big U) ~ ~ 4":: i) ~ E t
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<br />lraVt~ tel ea ~or moving West . -= 0 ...= · - 0 .., .... .-
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<br />Slope waler back up into the head.. ~. :>.. ~ fttI'J ~ ?"' v ~
<br />walers from the U lah border - an .s 4 ~ = t; e ; ~ ~
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