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<br />TELLURIDE TIMES-JOURNAL AUGUST 27,1992 5 <br /> <br />Guest commentaries <br /> <br />Whole basin <br />thinking to <br />avoid a <br />thirsty future <br /> <br />by Pamela Liflon-Zoline <br /> <br />I am very glad to see the Times- <br />Journal continue to highlight the <br />importance of water resource policies <br />(editorial, August 20) as the Telluride <br />region moves into a new em of develop- <br />ment and expansion. <br />The recent 'Water Ideas Festival <br />1992" and "'The Citizens Water Guide to <br />the Upper San Miguel River (published <br />by the Telluride Institute with the Times- <br /> <br />Journal, July 16, 1992) sought to <br />emphasize this critical area of concern, <br />and to develop tools of scientific infor- <br />mation and community-based analysis to <br />equip the local population to deal with <br />these complex issues. <br />This was in the context of the <br />Institute's San Miguel Basin Center,' <br />which is committed to oontinuing the <br />development and distribution of scien- <br />tific, economic and cultural information <br />about the basin. The center will also <br />work in partnership with other regional <br />agencies and individuals toward long- <br />tenn management practices to maximize <br />the health of the basin systems, both <br />human and natural. <br />The Times-Journal editorial seems to <br />have both Eric Jacobsen and myself in <br />the role of advisors who are urging the <br />town of Telluride to decide for a particu- <br />lar Blue Lake storage stmtegy, and <br />continued on page 11 <br /> <br />Whole basin <br /> <br />concinuedfrom page 5 <br /> <br />perhaps even asking the town to <br />decide without adequate review <br />and with unseemly haste. <br />Nothing could be further from <br />my actual position, and I would <br />hazard a guess, Mr. Jacobsen's. <br /> <br />My enthusiasm for the Blue <br />Lake strategy was expressed <br />and remains an enthusiasm for a <br />kind of whole basin thinking, <br /> <br />one which, at least to some <br />degree, substitutes a long-term <br />. community-based management <br />strategy for narrowly focused <br />shorter-term,ownelShip <br />interests. <br /> <br />It Was no part of my inten- <br />tion, nor the Institute's,to press <br />a particular plan into action <br />without extensive additional <br />information gathering and <br />review of many possible ways <br />forward. <br /> <br />Water is gnarly stuff to deal <br /> <br />with. As the Dalai Lama says in <br />this week's Muddbull Mystery <br />Theatre Drama Alien Thirst <br />(which is about water), "Let us <br />attempt to keep clear minds.. <br />The show is on at 8 p.m., <br />ThulSday, Friday and Saturday <br />at the Opera House. This year it <br />again represents the work of an <br />extraordinary gifted troupe of <br />children and adult artists. The <br />play speaks to important issues, <br />and is also tremendous fun. As <br />we said of the Ideas Festival, <br />. Be there or be thilSty.. <br />