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<br />OGH!:: <br /> <br />REPORT OF CONSULTANTS AND GROUND WATER <br />CODIFICATION AND RESEARCH STUDY COMMITTEE <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />'lo <br /> <br />Colorado's ground water problem is a problem in democracy, <br />scientific research, public administration, legislation, economics, and <br />community adjustment. The problem cuts across the property line of <br />the individual farm, and the boundaries of cities and towns. It exists <br />in every river basin and in the entire state. The problem is interrelated <br />to surface waters, and other natural resources. The problem is differ- <br />ent in each aquifer. The problem has been dealt with by the individual <br />farmer, the individual homeowner, the largest as well as the smallest <br />city in the state, the State of Colorado and its agencies, the federal <br />government and its agencies, as well as by the voluntary organizations <br />including the Colorado Farm Bureau, the Colorado Farmers Union, the <br />Colorado Grange, The Colorado Agricultural Council, the Colorado <br />Well Drillers Association, The Colorado League of Women Voters, <br />and local well users' associations and well owners' protective associa- <br />tions. <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />Conversely, many individuals and some organizations have closed <br />their eyes to the problem in the hope that it would go away. Some in- <br />dividuals and organizations have simply stated the water belongs to the <br />owner of the surface to do with, if, as, and when he wishes. The public <br />as a whole appears uninformed, disinterested, or apathetic in varying <br />degrees. Your consultants with the help and cooperation of the Ground <br />Water Codification and Research Study Committee, created at your <br />suggestion, have attempted an overall approach to the problem. <br /> <br />There is wide disagreement upon the fundamental legal theory, <br />administration, and possible legislation on ground water. Yet there is <br />a concensus of agreement on some basic questions. All agree that the <br />ground resources of Colorado should be applied to optimum beneficial <br />use. Harold E. Thomas of the United States Geological Survey in a <br />paper delivered to the Western Resources Conference, 1959, page 181, <br />defines the term "optimum" as follows: <br /> <br />'.' <br /> <br />"Optimum: Not the maximum, nor the most conservative <br />or the most liberal, nor the most economical, but only <br />the best and most favorable use of water. And if you ask <br />'best for what? ' the logical answer is 'the greatest good <br />for the greatest number'. " <br /> <br />'. <br />