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<br />TELLURIDE TIMES-JOURNAL JULY 30, 1992 3
<br />
<br />Telluride's watershed not unspoile~
<br />
<br />E t beaver, explained Dr. David development decision, impacts
<br />xper S, users Cooper, a wetlands specialist. the enviromnent, usuaIIy for the
<br />d ' The Telluride Valley Floor, he worse.
<br />lSCUSS new explained, was once filled, wall In addition to offering
<br />a h to wall, with beaver ponds and seminars on the regional
<br />pproac es willows. Then came miners, enviromnent, with an emphasis
<br />whose impacts are all too clear, on water, this weekend's Ideas
<br />and the modem recreation Festival also produced some
<br />industry, whose impacts are also lively debate on some of the
<br />clear to a trained eye, but may most controversial issues facing
<br />not be fully apparent for YeaIS to the region - namely applies-
<br />come. tions for new water rights by the
<br />,
<br />Mountain Village Metro District
<br />and the San Miguel Valley
<br />Corp., and the advisability of
<br />building a small-scale hydro-
<br />electric plant at Keystone Hill..
<br />The festival also produced at
<br />least one concrete suggestion for
<br />what was described as a poten-
<br />tial uwin-win" pact among
<br />regional water users to resolve
<br />some of these issues.
<br />That suggestion, proferred by
<br />
<br />by Seth Cagin
<br />
<br />The Telluride Region is not
<br />nearly as unspoiled as you
<br />probably think. It may not even
<br />be as beautiful as you think.
<br />Speakers at the morning session
<br />of Saturday's Ideas Festival on
<br />Water, sponsored by the
<br />Telluride Institute, described
<br />over a century's worth of
<br />damage to this watershed, and
<br />showed slides to emphasize the
<br />extent of the damage.
<br />
<br />The rust non-natives to arrive
<br />here wer~ 1he fur trappers, who
<br />, removed nearly all of the
<br />I
<br />
<br />festival review
<br />
<br />Cooper and Dr. David
<br />Groeneveld, who has been a
<br />student of the regional environ-
<br />ment for some 15 YeaIS, made it
<br />clear in their taIks that water
<br />management in this region can
<br />never be seen as noninterven-
<br />tionist insofar as nature is
<br />concerned. Every water
<br />decision we make, every
<br />
<br />Pamela Zoline of the Telluride
<br />Institute during an aftemoon
<br />session of the festival, was for
<br />the town of Telluride, Mountain
<br />Village Metro District and Eric
<br />Jacobson, operator of the Bridal
<br />Veil Hydroelectric plant and
<br />holder of non-ronsumptive
<br />water rights on the San Miguel,
<br />to jointly manage the water
<br />storage facilities in Upper Bridal
<br />Veil Basin, including Blue
<br />Lake, to increase stream flows
<br />in the San Miguel at those times
<br />of the year when the Telluride
<br />Company wishes to draw down
<br />the river for snowmaking or
<br />other purposes.
<br />
<br />As of last week, when it
<br />received senior water rights in
<br />Upper Bridal Veil Basin from
<br />the Idarado Mining Co. as part
<br />of a legal settlement, the town of
<br />Telluride holds the high cards in
<br />negotiating such a compact.
<br />Jacobson and Jim Wells of
<br />the Mountain Village Metro
<br />District, who sat on a panel of
<br />"players" who hold water rights
<br />in the San Miguel Basin, agreed
<br />that a negotiated compact could
<br />
<br />avoid years of costly litigation.
<br />Indeed, Wells said he had hoped
<br />to negotiate just such an
<br />arrangement with ldarado, and
<br />realized why Idarado had been
<br />reluctant to enter into discus-
<br />sions only after last week's
<br />announcement of the mining
<br />company's settlement with the
<br />town of Telluride.
<br />For his part, Telluride Mayor
<br />Peter Spencer, also a panelist,
<br />avoided making any statement
<br />that would indicate whether or
<br />not the town might be interested
<br />in such an arrangement, an
<br />evident reflection of the strong
<br />negotiating position the town
<br />now enjoys in water rights
<br />issues in the San Miguel Basin.
<br />It was the combination of
<br />taIks by scientific and legal
<br />experts in the morning, and
<br />debate .among regional water
<br />users in the aftemoon, that made
<br />Saturday's all-day session in the
<br />Sheridan Opera House so
<br />stimulating. The per.;pectives
<br />were poles. apart, a point that
<br />was driven home late in the
<br />afternoon when ecologist
<br />Cooper retook the stage follow-
<br />ing the "players," panel discus-
<br />sion to express dismay that so
<br />much of the discussion had
<br />
<br />continued on page 32
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