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entity that has a legitimate reason for being <br />involved in this position. And the question of <br />federal acquisition is made through a particularly <br />delicate problem. We have heard for years and years <br />that the.State of Colorado and also the mountain west <br />that it is about time that the federal government <br />stand in line just like every other citizen when it <br />wants a water right. We don't like the idea that the <br />federal government is coming in with-reserved water <br />rights and other preemptive water rights that don't <br />fit in with the state system. Why can't they just go <br />into water court or to the State Engineer's Office, <br />whatever the procedure is, and acquire water just <br />like everyone else. In fact now, what we are seeing <br />is that the federal government is starting to do <br />exactly what we have been asking them to do for a <br />dozen years. We have an example up in Estes Park in <br />the.Roeky Mountain National Park. Up there the Park <br />Services filed for an instream flow water right, one <br />that they acquired through purchase of an in holding <br />which they used for agriculcure. And now that the <br />federal government has done what we said we wanted <br />them to.do, we're closing the door and saying "no, <br />You are not allowed to hold an instream flow water <br />right ". This is a problem that would not have been <br />addressed by the current language of the bill, but <br />does provides unlimited recognition of federal water <br />rights bu.t only in the context of federal reserved <br />water. rights. A Rocky Mountain Park water right is <br />not a reserved water right because it did not exist <br />at the time of the initial reservation and we'd have <br />the same problem any time the federal government <br />sought to appropriate water for secondary purposes.or <br />for purposes related to land that can not be <br />reserved. It seems to.me that if we want to reduce <br />the level of conflict and tension between the federal <br />—11— <br />