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foundetlin 1893 THE rk1 DAn-Y . SENTINEL AuuNe'flSrtollO'tl George Orbanek, Editor and Ptiblisher . I.IrIJ J. DeGolyer, General Manager Dennis M. Henog, Managing Editor Bob SilbUllagel, Editorial Page Editor Dale Strode, City Editor Editorials. Water in the bank? II ~ ii' , . :1 Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt stirred the waters of the Colorado River last week when he announced that his department would draw up rules to allow Nevada to bank water in Arizona. . Babbitt's anouncement feU far short of approving inter- state sales of watl!r, as some news accounts suggested. Rather, he approved a plan Whereby Nevada can "bank" some of its surplus water in good years by literally pumping it underground in Arizona, then recalling it in other years as greater demands come from booming Las Vegas. Such a plan makes sense to a lot of people, including Jim Lochhead, director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and the state's representative on matters to do with the Colorado River. . "What he is dOing with Arizona and Nevada is totally consistent with what we've been pushing," Lochhead told The Daily Sentinel. "There's plenty of water in the lower- basin states !fit's used wisely." That's why upper-basin states such as Colorado have good reason to be pleased that the San Diego Water Author- ity and the Imperial Irrigation District in California's Imperial Valley recently announced a new water transfer plan. Under the proposal, San Diego will help pay for water conservation measures by the Imperial Valley fanners and, in return, will be able to use the water saved by the farm- ers. The boards of directors of the two water entities are to vote on the plan in February. These two efforts, and others like them, may help the lower.basin states of Arizona, Nevada and particUlarlY Cal. ifornia live within the amounts of water to which they are legally entitled under the Colorado River Compact. But nothing in what Babbitt announced last week would authorize sales of water from Colorado, Utah. Wyoming or New Mexico to the lower.basin sta,tes. Colorado still opposes such sales, Lochhead said. And there is good reason for that opposition. The valid fear remainS that if sales from the upper basin to the lower were allowed, there would be little to stop lower-basin water ./ groups with big money from buying up and drying up huge portions of the upper basin. Babbitt's announcement of last week is a sensible policy change for the three lower-basin states_ But there should be no rush to look for changes in the law of the river that would allow interstate or interbasin ",,,tpr <01"" ! ' . , /2/2-3/9"1- 6raMfI . ...) ~ ~ /1 fk.. !x.f/ltwl~f Commissioners upheld in approving Whitewat, Editor: On Nov. 19 an article on the front Daill' Sentinel stated that the Mesa ( missioners vehemently denied the intention of imposing development T in the Whitewater area. Last month the Elk Run Estltes came before the Mesa Countl' Plann: sian with a rare 100 percent citizen a; orous support by Chainnan Nystror. missioners GObbo and Moores. Th, commissioners (the Moratorium agreed the plan was good and wau' Come addition to the Whitewater aJ all this, the (mal vote was for denial. The coalition stated the timin~ wa. and thel' would like to wait until th which is scheduled to start next SUm: plete (two to three years). At this pair. maybe we should wait to pay ta""s un Quits blowing and the grass quits gro. reform. On Dec. 16, the Mesa County Com heard the same Proposal for the Elk , subdivision. This is a 147.acre, 29.ur sion being developed bl' DeLoss Proct (Construction Unlimited) on the north Whitewater. Aft...)" u,\"'..,t .................. -..... -" . . 1"OTRL P. 102