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<br />OJ,l:J3'L <br /> <br />Water - Key to Denver's Growth <br /> <br />On July II, 1972, the Denver Water Board is asking <br />Denver voters to approve $200 million in bonds to enlarge <br />and improve Denver's water system. The total cost of thi& <br />l2-year program is estimated to be $355 million. In 1972. <br />the Denver Water Board system will ut' -. - ~c .,.1 estimatod <br />224.000 acre feet of water with an additional annual excess <br />capacity of 75.000 acre feet, i.e.. the present annual <br />capacity is about 300.000 acre feet. The proposed l2-year <br />program will increase existing supplies to roughly 525,000 <br />acre feet. This expansion of the Denver Water system is <br />based on projected service needs of a large area located <br />outside of the boundaries of the city and county of Denver. <br /> <br />Mr. Glenn Saunders, an attorney representing the <br />Denver Water Board for many years. testified to the 1971 <br />Committee on Local Government that a decision was made <br />twenty to thirty years ago for Denver to acquire Western <br />Slope water.~o meet the population growth of the Denver <br />metro area.!! Thus. the Denver Water Board has been ac- <br />quiring water rights involved in the proposed l2-year ex- <br />pansion program for many years. <br /> <br />Governor Love points out that the program of the <br />Denver Water Board inx~lves more than a passive response <br />to population growth:~ <br /> <br />...the Denver Water Board, with its <br />farsighted, aggressive operation. seeking <br />to secure water for its metropolitan area, <br />has perhaps had more to do with the size <br />and shape and configuration of the metro- <br />politan area. than any planning or zoning <br />board. <br /> <br />Similar observations might be made <br />about Colorado Springs. Aurora, the Colo- <br />rado Big Thompson and other projects. <br /> <br />Committee on Local Government, "Minutes of Meeting". <br />October 29, 1971. <br />Governor's address to 1972 Colorado General Assembly. <br />House Journal, Forty-eighth General Assembly, pages 32 <br />and 33. <br /> <br />y <br />'Y <br /> <br />-8- <br />