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± <br />I know it is not good to sell your water or move it out of the basin but sometimes <br />you have to. We need to get together and find a way to help farmers irrigate, <br />especially elderly farmers who just don?t have the strength to work the farms and <br />irrigate like they used to. It?s easier for older farmers to just sell their water, <br />move it out of the basin and let the farm dry up. <br />± <br />Residents need the legislators to come through. I?d like the legislators to come <br />south and see what happened to Crowley County. <br />± <br />It all comes down to economics. The municipalities understand it the most. We <br />need to work together with Front Range cities. If they take our water, then they <br />need to help us create jobs. That?s what we want. Water is a social issue: it?s <br />the lifeblood of the valley and without it, we die. Cities need water for their <br />citizens and developers so they can grow. <br />Trans-basin and in-basin diversions can be equally devastating to a community: <br />± <br />I want water to stay in my local community. The devastating economic effects of <br />water leaving can be seen in La Junta and in Crowley County. <br />± <br />Basin transfers are devastating. Water from Booth Orchard ditch went to Pueblo. <br />Water isn?t necessarily leaving the basin but transfers still dry up agricultural <br />lands. <br />± <br />In-basin diversions as well as trans- basin diversions are equal problems. <br />There is a need for broader economic solutions: <br />± <br />It has to be economically feasible for agriculture to prosper in this basin. SWSI <br />needs engineers, lawyers, and economists to be involved in the Technical <br />Roundtables. Any kind of mitigation has to be on a basin-by-basin basis. When <br />looking at solving water problems, SWSI needs to look outside of water solutions. <br />± <br />Water management boils down to economics. The Technical Roundtable process <br />needs to bring in people who understand the water issues. SWSI needs those <br />perspectives. When we move forward 50 years and look at the number of people <br />that are supposed to come into the state, the pressures on water will be huge. <br />± <br />Perhaps the basin could be turned into a retirement community since the valley <br />has the best climate in Colorado. We should be the next place for people to <br />come to retire out of big cities. Southeast Colorado could use that as a basis for <br />planning for the future. Jobs will come, and then goods and services will follow. <br />± <br />The Lower Arkansas Valley has tourism potential because it is one of the only <br />warm-water areas in Colorado. Warm-water lakes would entice visitors from the <br />Front Range to come down. There would be opportunities for our citizens to <br />capitalize on this new tourism. Surveys have been done and they show that <br />people from Douglas County and Colorado Springs do come down and spend <br />money here. Water is used for irrigation and municipal purposes ? and there is <br />room for recreational use. <br />Evaluate creative solutions to satisfy the basin?s diverse needs: <br />± <br />There is not enough storage. This basin needs additional conservation and <br />storage. <br />