Added Water Storage Urged February 3 2005

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Rocky Mountain News: State Rocky Mountain News To print this page, select File then Print from your browser URL: http : / /www.rockymountainnews.com /drmn/ state / article /0,1299,DRMN_21_3518576,00.htmI Added water storage urged Colorado River negotiator lays out case to lawmakers By Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News February 3, 2005 Page 1 of 1 Colorado is making progress in its talks with other Western states on how to share Colorado River water in the event of a prolonged drought, but eventually the state will need new storage reservoirs to ensure it can meet all future demands, a lead negotiator told a panel of lawmakers Wednesday. New data showing that the Colorado River likely generates less water than the states originally believed means that Colorado will have to capture more wet -year surpluses to guarantee it can supply states farther down the river with their legal share. Advertisement "We're just going to have to have more storage," Scott Balcomb told a joint meeting of the Colorado House and Senate agriculture and natural resource committees on Wednesday. Balcomb, a Glenwood Springs water attorney, is a lead negotiator for Colorado in the seven -state water talks. The states have until April 1 to come up with a drought plan or the federal government has said it will craft one for them. Concern over the river has been rising as the drought has robbed the river's giant storage ponds - Lake Powell and Lake Mead - of their surpluses, dropping them to historic lows. Since 1922, the river has operated under what's known as the Colorado River Compact, an agreement that divides the river's supplies between the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico and the Lower Basin states of Nevada, Arizona and California. If Colorado and other Upper Basin states fall behind in their contributions to Lake Powell, their liquid bank account, the Lower Basin states could ask for more water, an event that may force cities up and down the Front Range to reduce their own take from the drought - plagued river. Such an event is at least five to seven years away, lawmakers were told, because Upper Basin states have delivered extra water for decades, giving them a credit in the river's complex storage system. Balcomb said Colorado could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to iron out unresolved issues under the 1922 compact to free up more water for the state. But if Colorado lost the court fight, it could wind up with even less water than it has now, making the negotiated approach used to date more appealing. "I would like to think I could win that case," Balcomb said. "But the reality is there is a lot of risk (in launching a legal battle)." smithj @RockyMountainNews.com or 303 - 892 -5474 Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved. http:// www. rockymountainnews .com/drmn/eda/article _print /0, 1983,DRMN_21_3518576_... 2/3/2005