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~ ;'-:..=j Ii 11""-'-1 i. I' __" __"-,-~J G..",~ . ,; 'StJd . 4 #~ ~ ~"~;1'ft/ Wilderness proposal goes in the right direction, bringing an end to decade-long dispute 8y Gale A. Norton The compromise Colorado wil- derness proposal 58 1029. crafted by Senators Hank Brov.-n and Tim Wirth. resolves one of the most difficult water disputes in Colorado's history. Their agreement has ended a decade- long stalemate. and allows us to achieve the preservation of at. most 700,000 acres of magnifi. cen[ Colorado mountains. The question of federal re- served water rights for wilder- ness areas has been the main stumbling block preventing agreement on ....ilderness areas over the past decade. As Attor- ney General of Colorado. 1 testi. fied in June before the U.S. Sen- ate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. offering the legal perspective on this issue. Colorado's \\-;lderness areas can be preserved ....ithout federal reserved water rights. The lack of federal water ownership does not mean that our ",ilderness areas will be devoid of rippling brooks, crystal lakes. and rush- ing waterfalls. Colorado ",iJder- ness will not feature forests of brown. dead, tinder-dry trees - the land will not be stripped of its water. The areas are adequately protected by Mother Nature and by Colorado state law. First. the water will be there because most of the v.i1derness lands are headwaters areas.. The'. mighty rivers of our nation begin SPEAK OUT . in the snowmelt and glacial melt of these high mountain peaks. Water can only be removed from the streams in these regions by the construction of dams or oth- er d_ :ersion structures. The Wirth-Brown compro. mise prohibits the construction of new water resource facilities The. . . program is intended to link the activities of mankind with preservation of the natural environment. within the lands designated as wilderness. Thus, the water will flow undisturbed through these lands. Second, this proposed legisla- tion provides for the use of Colo- rado's state instream flow law to protect water availability for wil. derness, specifically in the Pie- dra wilderness area. The Secre. tary of Agriculture is directed to enter into an agreement with the Colorado Water, Conservation Board to acquire instream flow rights consistent" with Color~do state law. Under Colorado's procedure, the Water Conservation Board may appropriate water of natural lakes and streams "to preserve the natural environment to a rea- sonable degree," or it may ac- Quire existing water rights by "grant purchase. bequest, de- vise, lease. exchange. or other contractual agreement." Colorado has already protect- ed 7,300 miles of streams by acquisition of instream flow wa- ter rights, including some stream segments within the pro- posed ....ildemess areas. The Col. orado Water Conservation Board has frequently and vigorously protected these rights from de- velopments that might jeopar. dize their environmental value. The Wirth/Brown com pro. mise bill is correct when it identi- fies the Colorado Water Conser- vation Board procedure as the "nation's leading instream flow protection program." Coloradans value the wilder- ness and want to see its natural beauty preserved. Yet, without the WirthfBrown compromise on water rights, no such preserva- tion would be politically feasible. The right to control our system of water allocation is much too important to the people of Colo- rado. It must be maintained. GQI~ A. Norto" iJ Atttmll)' w"eral lor tlte State o/Colorado.