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The Pueblo Chieftain Online I Friday wysiwyg: // 220 /http: / /www.chieftain....rsday /news /display.php3 ?article =al3 <br />132nd year...and still on the job. <br />Make The Pueblo Chieftain Online your Homepage. <br />}Heather ADVERTISEMENT <br />Current Temp: 84 <br />Extended Forecast <br />Today's Date <br />September 01, 2000 <br />Click Here to search <br />The Pueblo Chieftain <br />DEPARTMENTS: <br />News <br />Sports <br />Business <br />Lifestyle <br />Editorial <br />Classified <br />Daily Crossword <br />Comics <br />TV Listings <br />Weather <br />RECENTISSUES: <br />Monday <br />Tuesday <br />Wednesday <br />Thursday <br />Friday <br />Saturday <br />Sunday <br />ABOUT PUEBLO: <br />Business Directory <br />City Guide <br />Chamber of <br />Commerce <br />Riverwalk <br />Pueblo Convention <br />Center <br />Virtual Tours <br />SERVICES: <br />Contact Us <br />Subscribe <br />Advertising& <br />Web Development <br />Coupons <br />Active Channel <br />About this site <br />Career <br />Opportunities <br />EVENTS & <br />ACTIVITIES: <br />State Fair <br />Artiva Yaarc <br />YOU FtompanyW '" ."' <br />ADVERTISEMENT <br />Easement law may forestall water <br />sales <br />By JAMES AMOS <br />The Pueblo Chieftain <br />LA JUNTA - Farmers can get tax credits and maybe even <br />cash for agreeing not to sell their water, a local group has <br />found. <br />The Water Works! Committee hopes the incentives will <br />stop farmers in the lower Arkansas Valley from selling their <br />water to Front Range cities. <br />The group began its work several months ago after <br />hearing that people who own shares in the Rocky Ford <br />Ditch had agreed to sell their water rights to Aurora. The <br />sale isn't complete yet and will be reviewed by a water <br />judge, a process that will take at least a year. <br />While committee members realized that it might be too late <br />to stop the Rocky Ford sale, they agreed that something <br />must be done to keep more water from being sold out of <br />the area. Such sales enrich water- rights owners - turning <br />some farmers into millionaires - but can devastate <br />ag- dependent local economies. <br />But there's usually no way to stop the sales because water <br />rights are a property right in Colorado and can be bought <br />and sold. Farmers say they wouldn't have to sell their water <br />if they could make more money farming, but that hasn't <br />happened. <br />Rocy,i NIGUNTNN <br />EYE CENTER <br />Have <br />A Webs te? <br />So Water Works! has looked for ways to keep local water <br />rights local without buying them outright, which would <br />require millions of dollars. The committee includes <br />E) <br />representatives from Otero County government, the <br />Colorado State University Extension Service, local cities <br />and towns and local businesses. <br />YOU <br />After a few months of research, the group has found that <br />UK-E000 <br />conservation easements may be the fastest way to tie <br />water rights to the land without spending big money, <br />according to committee coordinator John Rose. <br />Conservation easements are agreements in which <br />1 of 3 9/1/00 3:26 PM <br />