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Comments to SWSJ, November 3t 2003, by John Wiener 7 Slope out of the piedmont areas and mesa highlands) was tree'ess until water distribution created important microenvironments that are the basis of both urban amenity and rural biodiversity.. The drive for increased efficiency of use would be ill..informed without consideration of these benefits, and there may be important choices in maintenance of facUities and pubUc interest or benefits in some of the spirr..overs such as conveyance loss that creates habitat The biological importance of corridors and connections between places magnifies the importance of these artificial creeks in semi..arid areas, With the prospect of additional changes in flows in mainstem rivers and large streams fed by snowmeltl due to climate variation or human modification for additional storage, these varues may become even higher. One interesting case is Briggsdale Campground in the Pawnee Buttes National Grassrands, where an old farmstead, long since gone, has become internationally known as a stop for migrating birds, and thus birdwatchers, between the Arkansas and the South Platte4 There are numerous gravel pit ponds now supporting wildlife, and the sUbject of trails and linear amenities has been noted above. The threat of inadequately considered jncreases in "efficiency" of conveyance, and perhaps a'so of field application or irrigation is that these environmental benefits may be lost, and this in turn makes the probability of loss of buffers and safety margins a bigger threat. Under the current conditions of radical popufation increase, the threats to IIjncrease efficiency" are a'ready strong, and as is widely appreciated, the public interests in "inefficiencyu are not represented where the water law protects only other water rights holders. Everyone in a watershed can be affected by drastic additional layers of regulation if environmental conditions deteriorate too far, but the defense against this created by lIinefficiencytl is apparently up to processes like the SWSI. EnVironmentally-oriented description of the choices and trade-offs now available, UWhat the Current Drought Means for the Future of Water Management in Colorado" (Luecke at aLf 2003, 66 PP1 availabJe on..Une from Trout Unlimited, <www.cotroutorg>) has disappointingry little to say about the focal and the rural interests that this commentary addresses~ The existing expectations and values built around the amenity and environmental values of IIleaky" old ditches are sadly under..appreciated in the conversation so fart in both urban and rural contexts. These values may be much higher in the future under conditions of lower water availability for any reason. A recommendation for inquiry is noted below as an appendix on agricultural effjcjency~ Although unpleasant to contemplate, the trends in wetlands loss and degradation of the riparian habitats mean that droughts or water supply shortages for any reason may create much higher values for the remaining areas of these kinds~ The public benefits are noted below in a little more detail, but in regard to the environmental benefits, it is important to consider that current values may be only a fraction of future values. These incrude providing the range of environmentar amenities and services, noted above and below, and also providing important environmental buffers, These buffers are safety nets for some wHdJife and high-valued usesf such as waterfowl habitat and recreatjonal hunting, and afso buffers against the problems of crossing environmental thresholds such as water quaUty TMDLs or threatened and endangered species problems, which can destabilize a wide range of investments and opportunities, causing at the least a serious allocation of staff and management expenses in the public sector whire complicating activities in the private sector. The toss of pra;rie potholes, for exampfet has affected waterfowl already, perhaps making water distribution facilities even more valuable (see Baron, JL, Ed., 2002, Rockv Mountain Futures, Island Press for review of some of these issues). The problem of rural sustainability and agricultural viability "Farming no longer anchors the rural economY.4.1. wrote Whitener and McGranahan in the USDA ERS Amber Waves magazine (Feb. 20031 on-fine from USDA ERS); they noted that job growth in farm-related industry and business is greater than in farming itself, and nearly 90 percent of aU farm household income in 1999 was from off-farm sources. More than half of farm operators work off the farm, and of those 4/5 are employed fun-time off the farm. The importance of rural