BOARD01106

• Board Meeting Date: 2/3/1962
• Description: Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

I

Basin because when water is diverted at
Del Norte into the Farmers Union, Rio
Grande Canal or San Luis Canal, when it
is di verte d there we have a title to that
water. It is our water. It is attached
to my land and my neighbor's land. It
belongs to the Rio Grande River no more.
But before it is diverted into that head
gate, that is when the debit is either
taken care of or neglected and it has been
negle.cted in the past I believe.

I'll go along with the Honorable
Governor. I don't like to see debits
either. So far as we, at the meeting, why
let the Conejos and Rio Grande Rivers take
care of this debit. We can supplement
that much cheaper with our own pumps than
you can and take it all away from us. All
of us have pumps, we have supplemented our
water for about ten or twelve years and
we can still supplement it, fellows.

I'll admit it's going to have to be
paid. It's going to be paid through the
nose but let it be paid where it was
created -- Rio Grande and Conejos Rivers.

Now, water users of th~ San Luis
Valley, there was not enough information
on what the river would yield over a period
of 50 years at the time the compact was
negotiated. There was our fall down on
our compact. We did know things could
happen like they did in the last 15 years.

I

Let's take it on the Farmers Union.
In the last 15 years there has been several
years that th~Union only gives us weeks
run besides the reservoir and that would
be just what water we caught through the
winter because we never felt it for several
years.

And
You have
mistake.
fellows,

that is where we have fell down.
oversold yourselves and it's a
Let's not make two mistakes,
one's enough.

(Applause)