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Scare tactics Page 1 of 1 The Pueblo Chieftain Online Select file then print to print this article. Publish Date Friday May 3rd, 2002 Scare tactics EDITORIAL The Pueblo Chieftain THE MORE we see of the federal legislation pending in Congress that would give Aurora legal use of the Fryingpan Arkansas Project facilities, the less we lice it. The bill's title seems innocuous: "To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to engage in studies relating to enlarging Pueblo Dam and Reservoir and Sugar Loaf Dam and Turquoise Lake, Fryingpan- Arkansas Project, and for other purposes." We can certainly see the need for enlarged storage capacity for the water needs of the Arkansas Valley. It would have been wonderful if more water could have been stored to stave off what may be deleterious effects of the current draught. We realize that Colorado Springs would be by far the biggest beneficiary of increased storage capacity. But the Springs is in the Arkansas Basin and is part of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District; so its benefits are understandable. And we see the benefits to other entities in the valley, particularly Pueblo West. Ever since the suburb's metropolitan district came into being, property owners have been paying for the Fry Ark through their mill levy to the Conservancy District, just as everybody else in the district has been doing. Yet Pueblo West has no statutory authority for storage in the Fry-Ark facilities, while Aurora has enjoyed year -to- year storage contracts with the Bureau of Reclamation. But getting back to the title of House Resolution 3881, it's those "other purposes" that cause us great concern - and should concern everyone else in this basin dependant on the Arkansas River and the Fry-Ark Project. There is only about a half page in HR 3881 dealing with a study of increased storage, while the other 20 pages deal with those "other purposes." For instance, Aurora would benefit from HR 3881 by having congressional authorization for it to use the Fry-Ark Project - something the Conservancy District has objected to each year when Aurora and the Bureau have entered into storage contracts. The legislation would allow further transfers of water outside the basin utilizing Fry-Ark facilities if some future board of directors of the Southeast District were to agree. That effectively uses federal legislation to put a "for sale" sign on Arkansas River water. All an entity such as Douglas County would need to do is dangle enough money. Douglas County last year resumed its ranking as the fastest - growing county in the entire United States, and it is fast depleting the aquifer that is its main water source. Proponents of this legislation say that without its passage this year, there would never be the possibility of an Arkansas Conduit, a proposal to pipe relatively clean water out of Lake Pueblo to the cities east of Pueblo, all the way to Lamar. We are highly skeptical that such a conduit would ever be constructed. In any case, failure to pass the bill this year would not necessarily mean the conduit's obituary. The proponents say that, absent this legislation, there would be nothing but lawsuits and legal bills. Again, this sounds like scare tactics. It took many years of work in Washington before Congress finally passed the bill authorizing the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project - for the benefit of this valley, not Aurora - and if the current bill cannot be amended to remove the offending provisions, it can be brought back in a more palatable form in the next session of Congress. Make no mistake. We and a growing number of people in the Arkansas Valley believe that not a single additional drop of water should be allowed to be sucked out of this valley. We don't think Congress ought to be making that possible through HR 3881. ©1996 -2002 The pueblo Chieftain Online file:// C:\ unzippediMcInnisN` odamwithoutcity \scaretactics.htm 05/06/2002