BOARD02203

• Board Meeting Date: 3/20/1975
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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water - that needed for a million barrels of oil per day oil shale
industry is physically and legally available in the White River. Water
rights could be acquired - or ar being acquired by the federal oil
shale lessees and by coal and mineral developers and owners in Colorado
on the White River and elsewhere in the State. These assured sources
of water must come from one of three sources.

The first is, existing irrigation and storage rights; the second is,
authorized or planned reclamation projects and rights; the third is
the conditional decrees held for mineral development.

Now, the first source is present agricultural use, it is the rights on
the high line ditches, farmer canals, or high line reservoirs, the
existing agricultural use of the State of Colorado. '

The second source has increased agricultural use for Colorado. These
projects are for multi-purpose use, are planned as such, and will be
built as such.

The third has no agricultural use and is junior to and in conflict with
agriculture. A fellow develops a nine-mile canal, acquires the water
rights in the XYZ Oil Company, he is subject to the call of prior rights
for irrigation on the river.

Now, what is the message today to Kemmerer Coal Company - Mr. Sherman
is coming in and I almost want to back up a page. But, what is the
message today to Kemmerer Coal Company? Is it to take the message that
optioning of ranches with early agricultural water rights is the wisest
course? With the present disaster in the cattle market and the present
price structure in coal and oil - I don't know if you know what the
spot price was on coal last winter, an unbelievable height for a car
of coal - an option on the ranch with a pioneer ditch right has little
downside risk, and significant potential gains because of the under-
pricing of the irrigation water; and I might add, there is a terrible
decrease in the cattle industry.

If Colorado should take a state posture that its water should not be
used for energy development, the practical result will be to dry up the
relatively inefficient use of water to raise alfalfa hay in the White
and the Yampa, and to transfer this use to coal and shale.

I suggest there is another message which should be given to the Kemmerer
Coal Company - and I am using them because they are not associated with
oil shale. The answer, with a policy of the State of Colorado to use
and utilize its scarce and precious water, where possible, the water
should be utilized in multi-purpose projects, engineered and planned
for the requirements of a valley rather than for discrete, or isolated,
or single-use diversions.

The best way to protect the present agricultural use of water in Western
Colorado is to assure an adequate supply of industrial water which is
dependable and assured, and which will carry through drought cycles
without significant risk of being called out by senior irrigation rights.

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