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Thornton to spend over 50 million dollars initially to assure the City's future water supply... understanding that not one drop of water would be available within Thornton before the year 2000. Those expressions of confidence are why I personally spent much of the last 16 months attending water court in Greeley. It strikes me that perhaps the greatest service I can offer this Conference would be to distill my experiences ... and to offer my observations about some of the myths surrounding the "Front Range Water Problem." Let me offer five observations: OBSERVJl.TION '1 -- Biqqer is not always better. A centralized, interde_ndent, and fully inteqrated Front Ranqe water system is not in the best interests of most area water ~roviders. In fact, I would go further and say that while such a system may appeal toone's intellectual and philosophical tendencies ... it is impractical and may even be dangerous. There is no evidence that a unified, interdependent system would be more efficient than individual, independent water systems. To the contrary, there is evidence that an interdependent system can, and probably will, generate conflicts among the participants on issues related to growth, land use, tap allocation, planning and cost. While, in my opinion, a centralized water system is not needed, the participation in forums, such as the Front Range Water Authority, which help facilitate cooperation, coordination and most importantly, communication, should be strongly encouraged. The Front Range Water Authority not only provides a forum for communication, it also provides a legal vehicle for the execution of joint water projects. Creating legal alliances in those cases where a clear and limited objective can be identified changes the term "cooperation" from a cosmic idea to a realistic practice. Lee Rozaklis's draft report identifies some of these opportunities for voluntary alliances which can stretch present supplies and create new ones. As individual local governments and districts continue to meet the needs of their constituents, I foresee more cooperative ventures among providers instead of the development of a Front Range authority. Those of us who have the unique responsibility of providing water for our citizens' futures cannot wait for the development of a centralized approach. OBSERVJl.TION #2 -- Basin-of-oriqin leqislation is unnecessary and would inhibit creative resolutions. The only transfer legislation necessary at this point is legislation to facilitate, rather than further impede, transfers. Further, any basin-of-origin legislation is premature at least until we have the guidance of a state-wide water plan. In other words, a set of political decisions needs to be made regarding the internal allocations of Colorado waters and how those allocations would affect Colorado's ability to protect its interstate compact entitlements. 13