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\ ... t(' L if {I \1 1-0 fJ ~ If WEDNESDAY Jl1tV-Wt:!<fO:!: B I Pd'V BA a ance sought in fish study F eds urged to consider Front Range, W. Slope By Berny Morson New; Staff Writ~~ . An Arapahoe County commis- sioner ''':ants the f~de-, al "o"orn pd ~ b '..... ,1- ment to consider needs of the growing Front Range in a study 01 how much water is necessary to support four endangered fish spe- . cles In the Colorado River. . Commissioner John Brackney, i who also chairs the Arapahoe Wa- I ter and Wastewater Authority said Tuesday that Front Rang~ water demands should not be met ~t the expense of either the fish or 'IrrIgators on the Western Slope. He would lIke to see a state water plan that covers all water users. But Steve Glazer, who heads several water committees of the . .Colorado Sierra Cluh, dnuht, th~t more water could be diverted to the Front Range without damag- Ing the Western Slope. "You're asking for nothing but trouble when you start taking wa- ter o~t of it's natural drainage," I said Glazer. who lives in Crested . Butte. i The Bureau of Reclamation is ! studying the amount of water that I wIll be needed to sustain four en- dangered fish species: the pike mInnow, t he razorback sucker, the boneytaIi chub and the hump- backed chub. 000896 /4. "" ;:i"'f: Last year,' the 'Colorado Su- preme Court halted a plan to di- vert water to the Front Range from the headwaters of the Gunni- son River. Brackney's water dis- trict was amollg those seeking the diversion. . But the Supreme Court ruling left open the ~ossibility of divert- ing tip to 240,000 acre-feet stored behind three federal dams be- tween the city of Gunnison and the Black Canyon of the Gunni- son. Steve McCall. an environmental specialist at the Bureau of Recla- mation's Grand Junction office, said it's not yet clear how much of the 240,000 acre-feet will be need. ed for the fish. One acre-foot of water is enough for one household for a year. An overall estimate of how much water the fish need will be out later this year. But an environmental impact statement will take several more years, McCan said. It will show the effect of different strategies for obtaining the water - for ex- ample, by varying the times of year when wi,ter is released from -dams. . .,.. Earlier this month, three Front . Range congressmen' urged Inten- . or Secretary Gale Norton to en- sure that the Bureau of Reclama- .' tion study takes into account "all . of Colorado's marketable water." But the letter stops short of calling for the 240,000 acre-feet, to be set aside for the Front Range. It was signed by Republicans Jp~l Hefley, Bob Schaffer and Tom "lfancredo. , .. ~ - - .