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Consider: Many of us in Colorado are naive enough to believe that when <br /> our founding fathers wrote in the Constitution that the public owns the water, <br /> they did not mean that Bob Rawlings could buy the Cache la Poudre River or <br /> that Paul Tauer could buy the Arkansas River. We believe they meant that <br /> Paul Tauer or any other Denver resident was welcome to come to the Arkansas <br /> River and enjoy its fishing, boating, rafting, kayaking or simply camping along <br /> its banks, but that the public who live along the river actually own the water <br /> and that their rights should be protected. <br /> You are aware of course that, unlike part of the Western Slope, the <br /> Arkansas River not only doesn't have surplus water but, in fact, is short of <br /> water for its own needs even in wet years. <br /> As Mr. Tauer has acknowledged in the public press, diverting water <br /> outside of the Arkansas Basin to Aurora is terribly wrong. The fact that he <br /> continues to recruit new residents to Aurora when he knows he doesn't have <br /> enough water for them is unconscionable to virtually all fair- minded people. <br /> Please, Greg, help us correct the injustices of our Colorado water laws. I <br /> am not suggesting a complete overhaul. Our priority system has many <br /> advantages and benefits. But taking water out of a Valley that already is <br /> desperately short of water is wrong. And defending the right of "moving water <br /> uphill to money" despite the damages it causes to the public in the Arkansas <br /> Basin is, to my mind, simply unjust on the face of it. <br /> My hearty thanks to you and to the members of the Colorado Water <br /> Conservation Board for the dramatic vote in Pueblo which hopefully was a <br /> signal that those of us who are fortunate enough to live along side a river have <br /> rights too. <br /> l <br /> • <br /> R. . Rawlings . <br /> Publisher -� <br /> RHR/ sy • <br />