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<br />management with species conservation.
<br />The Recovery Land Acquisition Grants Program provides funds to states and territories to acquire habitat
<br />for endangered and threatened species with approved recovery plans. One of this year's grants will provide
<br />$1.8M to preserve 3,148 acres in the South Kona District of the Island of Hawaii located within a core region
<br />identified for wildlife conservation in the Hawaii Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. For a complete list
<br />of the 2006 grant awards, see http : / /endangered.fws.goy /grants /section6 /index.html.
<br />WATER RESOURCESMATER RIGHTS
<br />Colorado /Drought /Ground Water Pumping
<br />By mid -July, Colorado Governor Bill Owens had declared 59 of 64 counties federal agricultural disaster
<br />areas, and two more had applied for such designation. At that time, state spokesman Dan Hopkins, observed that
<br />"...the drought is not over. It's an ongoing problem, an ongoing situation that's ultimately going to have to be
<br />addressed by such things as increased conservation and increased storage capacity." Irrigated acreage in
<br />Colorado has dropped to its lowest level in 32 years, with about one million acres fallowed since the highest point
<br />in the 1970s. Irrigated acreage is less than 2AM acres, compared to estimates of 3.1 M acres six years ago.
<br />Drought is partly to blame, but irrigated acreage is also disappearing with urbanization, cities acquiring agricultural
<br />water rights, and limits on ground water development intended to protect senior surface water users. "We're going
<br />to have to look at this much more closely," said Rick Brown with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Dan
<br />Luecke, a respected water and environmental consultant believes such transfers are "...inevitable. However,
<br />anyone who says we'll get all of our water from agriculture is either being very insensitive or not very
<br />savvy." (Rocky Mountain News, 7 -18 -06 and 7- 29 -06)
<br />With the beginning of the new water year, Denver Water reservoirs are now at 90% of capacity, compared
<br />to 51 % in October 2002. Greg Fisher, Chief Planner, attributes recent improvements to last year's healthy
<br />snowpack, reductions in outdoor water use by the utilities' 1.2M customers.,. and providential fall and summer
<br />rains. "Our customers continue to do a great job in keeping their water;use down and using only what they need."
<br />Still, 2006 may still go down in the record books as the driest in Denier's history, beating out 2002 when just 7.48
<br />inches of precipitation were recorded at Denver International AirpA Denver Water Resource Engineer Bob
<br />Steger says, We're well - positioned for next year, although we still need to have a decent snowpack. We need to
<br />continue using water wisely, but the drought is essentially over." (RM News, 10- 16 -06)
<br />Reportedly, people are not just watchinh their own water use — but their neighbors too! Private
<br />investigators have been hired by some comma ities d farmers with senior water rights to check into illegal
<br />ground water pumping. A data base of acreag pos ly irrigated illegally has been compiled and presented to
<br />Colorado State Engineer Hal Simpson, who is i stigating the claims. In May, the state cut off some 440 wells
<br />affecting South Platte River flows when an agreement on emergency water replacement plans could not be
<br />reached. Crop losses were significant, and some farmers may not be in compliance with the order.
<br />According to Tim Buchanan, an attorney representing farmers with senior rights, "We started hearing
<br />rumors and people in the area where the wells are located called us and said people were pumping contrary to
<br />the state's order." So together with some communities, they hired an investigator to survey 50 plots. "We looked
<br />only at properties that had wells as their sole source of water. Not only were they wet, they were growing crops."
<br />Boulder and Highlands Ranch were two concerned cities. Attorney Veronica Sperling said her clients were
<br />concerned about illegal pumping. Carol Ellinghouse, Boulder Resources Coordinator, said, "They went out and
<br />some farms showed signs of being recently irrigated. Others were pretty lush, a condition that couldn't happen if
<br />they weren't watering." John Hendrick, General Manager, Centennial Water and Sanitation District, agreed to the
<br />surveillance. "It's like people running a stop sign or speeding. The thing to do is identify the problem and fix it."
<br />Farmer Steve Bruntz observed, "There was one man taking pictures. My wife asked if she could help him
<br />and he sped off." Farmer John Moser is still irrigating with water from a small lake on his property, and his 290
<br />acres were included in the investigation and observed as "green and vigorous alfalfa." He said, "it does upset me,
<br />for in fact they don't know the details.... It's gotten out of hand. People are yelling and screaming at each other."
<br />Farmer David Knievel said, "I wish I could have caught them on my property. We shoot every other trespasser
<br />and he'd be the second one." (SFGate.com 10- 19 -06)
<br />http: / /www.westgov.org/wswc /news /1692.html 10/24/2006
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