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'Ruth Heide° <br />Photos by Cynthia Hunter <br />San Luis Valley residents are waiting and ho <br />lffr@— uling in the <br />Colorado Division of Water Resources' <br />San Luis Valley confined aquifer rules <br />case. The nearly six -week trial was argued <br />by a dozen attorneys earlier this year. <br />At issue is how much water, if any, is <br />available to pump from the deep aquifers <br />underlying the valley. And, if that water is <br />pumped, how much should be returned <br />to the system to prevent exhaustion of <br />the aquifers over time. <br />Attorneys presented final arguments <br />to the judge on March 24. Kuenhold <br />gave each side until the first of May <br />to file proposed findings of fact and <br />conclusions of law, and he has since <br />granted several extensions. The judge <br />has not set a deadline for his own <br />decision in the case. "It will take some <br />time," he says. <br />The issue started building when the <br />Colorado General Assembly passed <br />House Bill 1011 in 1998 and Senate Bill <br />222 in 2004, recognizing the valley's <br />unique hydrology, the need to protect <br />existing water rights and the state's Rio <br />Grande Compact delivery obligations to <br />downstream states. <br />In response, Colorado Division of <br />Water Resources State Engineer Hal <br />Simpson promulgated rules on June 30, <br />2004, governing new groundwater with- <br />drawals from the valley. <br />Arguing in favor of the state's rules <br />at trial were attorneys from the Attorney <br />General's office, Rio Grande Water <br />Conservation District, Conejos Water <br />Conservancy District and Rio Grande <br />Water Users Association. <br />Objectors were led by attorneys rep- <br />resenting Cotton Creek Circles, San Luis <br />Valley Water Company and Colorado <br />Association of Home Builders. <br />The proposed rules govern new ground- <br />water withdrawals from the confined or <br />