Arizona Central Drought Articles

Home Browse Search

Drought diminishes river# Scholl said he realizes not everyone sees the value of letting ranchers and farmers keep their water. He hasn't been able to live off income from his ranch for years, which is why he opened the insurance office. "There are people who think that water should be like air, that it should belong to everybody," he said. "Well, if it was that way from the start, it'd be one thing. But those old boys who chiseled through the sagebrush all those years ago paid for the water in blood, sweat and tears. There's not a developer in Denver who understands that." So far, most ranchers and farmers hold senior water rights that protect them from new demands, but Scholl and others fear that urban interests on the Front Range could try to change the law to benefit growing cities. "Mining and agriculture were big parts of the economy 100 years ago and legislators were willing to put in place priority systems to protect those activities," said Kuhn, the water district manager. "Now, the growing suburbs are looking for water. They're last in line, and it doesn't work for them. And they have tremendous economic and political power." Much of Colorado's undeveloped water now runs out of state, uncaptured, in part because a power plant outside Glenwood Springs holds one of the state's oldest water rights. When it's running at full power, it draws heavily on the Colorado River, but once the water passes through the turbines back into the river, there's no way to divert it back for use by cities. "We don't have the equivalent of a Central Arizona Project to move water," Kuhn said. "If we're going to develop more Colorado River water, we can't build any more reservoirs in the mountains, because that water is spoken for. We will have to go west and bring it back." Such a project would cost billions, and Colorado voters have already refused to spend money on a less ambitious plan to move water east. But there's a feeling in parts of the state and elsewhere in the upper basin that if the dominoes start to fall, they'll fall downstream. "I think a lot of folks in Colorado feel comfortable," Kuhn said. "We're at the top of the ditch. We get first cut at it. What the lower -basin states get, they get." In other words, water may flow uphill to money, as the old saw goes, but it doesn't have to flow downhill at all. This is where the river begins. Print This I Email This I Most Popular I Subscribe I Larger Type I Smaller Type The Arizona Republic - Front Page • Local • Sports - Business • Arizona Living • Opinions • Ads 12 News - News • Weather • What's on 12 • About 12 • 12 News Bios - 12 News Today • Jobs at KPNX world & nation I the buzz ( Arizona Republic print edition I politics scanners I traffic information ( obituaries I photography and multimedia I video I education site map azcentral.com main I news I sports I money I entertainment I style travel health I families I food & home I shop I espaflol I weather I maps classified I jobs I cars I real estate I apartments I merchandise I personals customer service I terms of service I contact The Republic I subscribe to The Arizona Republic Newspapers In Education I The Republic in your community I about The Republic I about KPNX -TV I The News Store Copyright 2004, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. USA Today ( Gannett Co. Inc. I Gannett Foundation I Real Cities Network Page 5 of 5 http:// www. azcentral .comispecialslspecia1061 articles /0722colorado- drought.html 7/27/2004