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<br />Wet towel thrown on Vegas water plan <br />.. New Colorado River dam proposed.. <br /> <br />In a letterto.Chevron and Getty Oil, U,s. Sen. Ben NighthorseCampbell said. <br />Colorado's top three water administrators' he was "wary" of the proposal, partly be- <br />wrote that they feared the water-leasing cause one oftheproject's leading lawyers, <br />. proposal "could open up an unregulated penver attorney Jack Ross, represented <br />wat~r market on the Colorado RiveF?,-al- . American Water Pevelopment Inc. in /In <br />lowing wealthy downstream water users unsuccessful attempt to Siphon billions of <br />suchasLos Angeles and Las Vegas to buy . gallons from the. San Luis Valley. <br />up and dry ~p irri~atedfarmlandaround U.s. Sen. Hank Bro\vn said, "Colorado's <br />Grand JunctIOn, No, 1 concern. is to ensure we dOll'tjeopar- <br />"Although we are not at this time op- dize our rights, to water under the inter- <br />posed to your proposal,. we have yet.to be state compact We must -ensure no water <br />convinced that your propos. al has a legit!- is lost befOre a project like this moves for' <br />ward." <br />mate-chance of viability and that your <br />proposal will not jeopardize key interests <br />of the state of Colorado," said Natural Re, <br />. sources Pirector Ken Salazar, state water <br />engineer Hal Simpson and Water Conser- <br />vation Board director Chuck Lile, <br /> <br />By Mark.Obmascik <br />Denver Post EnvlronlJlent Writer <br />Colorado's top politicians and natural <br />resource manag<!rS tossed cold water yes- <br />terday on a $200 million plan to build a <br />new reservoir on the Western Slope and. <br />then lease the Colorado River flows to Ne- <br />vada, . <br />Chevron USA alid. Getty Oil Exploration <br />Co, held a news conference yesterday to <br />unyeiUbeir proposal- to pipe water from <br />tbe. Colorado River near DeBeque and <br />store it in a natural basin 3 miles upbill On <br />Roan Creek. . <br />, The state of Nevada, which is struggling. <br />. to meet the water needs of booming devel- <br />opment around Las Vegas, would finance <br />. the project <br />But Colorado's two U,S, senators, tbe <br />. state attorney general and top water offi- <br />cials all raised doubts about .the project <br /> <br />THE. DENVER POST <br /> <br />And Colorado Attorney General Gale <br />Norton said, "We must beware of mort- <br />gaging our future for sbort-term gains,., , , <br />I cannot approve or allow any type of <br />agreement that .could je()pardize future <br /> <br />Wednesday, February 3,1993- <br /> <br />water available for the citizensof Colora- <br />d. " <br />0, <br /> <br />Project backers expressed their willing, <br />ness to work with state officials. They said <br />Chevron and Getty won't make allY money <br />off water leases, but the companies will <br />end up with a free $200 miilion reservoir <br />after their 30- to 50-year lease with Neva" <br />da concludes, <br />Supporters also'said Colorado's water <br />courts will ensure no current water users <br />are hurt . , <br />The project won a qualified .eridorse- <br />. nient from state Rep, Tim Foster of <br />Grand Junction, whose district includes <br />the Roan Creek reservoir site. <br />leI like it, for now;" Foster 'said. "It's a <br />project that keeps water. from flowing <br />over the other side .of the mountain (to <br />Denver). " <br />