'Water Principles' Making Waves with Upper Gunnison

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6 - Gunnis Country Times - Thursday, November 28, 2002 'Water principals' making waves with Upper Gunnison Chris Dicke A statewide effort to gain con- sensus on a set of "water princi- pals" is creating some tension among the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District board of directors. The debate re- cently took a familiar turn, cen- tering on the district's long -held and staunchly guarded policy of allowing "not one drop" of Gun- nison Basin water for trans -basin diversion. Water watchers are gearing up for a flood of bills that will be in- troduced in the upcoming ses- sion of the Colorado General Assembly, most a result of the severe drought that's swept the state. In response, a consortium of regional political action groups formed "Colorado 58," an attempted coalition of 58 of Colorado's 64 counties. Colorado 58 established 10 water principals it hopes will guide the upcoming Legislative discourse -over water manage- ment. Backers have been working for the past couple months to -gain support for these principals. They've reached a snag with the Upper Gunnison. According to Reeves Brown, a Grand Junction -based coordina- _ tor of the effort, the water princi- p a ls emphasize conservation and efficiency before developing new water projects. However, the water_ principals also state that fu- ture water projects "should ben- efit both the area of origin as well as the area of use." To critics, this sounds an awful lot like trans -basin diversion is going to happen and that locals are left only. trying to receive some concessions when it does. "I don't think we can support these principals without chang- ing district policy," said UGRW- CD board member Steve Glazer. " Local water Ramon' . Reed agreed. Even if board mem- bers aren't conceding trans -basin diversion, simply talking about it with other entities is a violation of policy in his view. "I remind you that the district's policy also states non - negotiation of trans -basin diversion," Reed said. "If this board were to en- dorse (the water principals), I think it sends a clear message that we're willing to sit down and start negotiating." Particularly troubling to many officials was water principal number seven. which states that "adverse economic, environmen- tal and social impacts of future water projects and water transfers must be minimized." It goes on to acknowledge there may be "unavoidable impacts," but that they must be mitigated. "They think they can come over here and bribe you, that's what that says," commented longtime UGRWCD board mem- ber Diane Lothamer. "If you think that's going to protect this basin, you're dream- ing," added Reed. "You're absolutely dreaming." - Other members of the district were more supportive of the water principals, however. Board president Greg Peterson indicat- ed they represented a strategy that could be used when trans - basin, or any other water devel- opment pressure gets tuned up. " I'm not afraid of being ostra- cized in the community or by being labeled the nest trans -basin diversion proponent," he said. UGRWCD Manager Kathleen Curry said she wasn t wedded to the water principals, but that she did understand the desire to work within a larger coalition to fight against what she called a "Front Range frenzy" "The Gunnison Basin is absolutely on the tops of every- body's list, whether there is water or not," she said. "It's insane." She said the water principals are an effort to establish some "limits" for statewide lawmakers when they opt to - come over here and ram it down our throats anyway" NOTE: Colorado's untapped Gunnison River is by far the state's largest unused water source that is flowing to California during heavy run- off years. The Upper Gunnison's shortsighted "not one drop" policy against high storage and the proposed Central Colorado Project (CCP) is largely responsible for current drought shortages throughout Colorado's five major river basins. Dave Miller 719- 481 -2003