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<br />Page 3 WRW washn x x x commitments
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<br />"They are having a fight up there in Colorado over Closed Basin
<br />water. There's a proposal to send 200,000 acre-feet of water to the
<br />Eastern Slope from the Closed Basin. If they (the courts) allow that,
<br />it would adversely affect the Rio Grande," Reynolds observed.
<br />HIGH DEMAND FOR CLOSED BASIN WATER
<br />Reynolds' concern is shared by many in the San Luis Valley about
<br />a pending water right application filed by AWDI in Colorado Water
<br />Court *3 at Alamosa in Dec. 31, 1986, for 200,000 acre-feet of Closed
<br />Basin groundwater. Valley residents and land owners fear AWDI will
<br />sell the water to water users along the Front Range in Eastern Colo-
<br />rado. The court has not scheduled a formal hearing yet on the AWDI
<br />filing. The Rio Grande Water Conservation District of Alamosa and the
<br />U.S. Department of Justice are scheduled on Aug. 3 to make motions for
<br />partial summary judgments, David W, Robbins, attorney for the water
<br />district, told WRW on July 28. He said AWDI, which now owns the famed
<br />Baca Grant Ranch in the Closed Basin and has applied for the rights to
<br />the groundwater underlying the ranch, has unified Valley water users
<br />by applying for such a big water right in the area. "It is the first
<br />time the water interests in the Valley have ever worked together," he
<br />stated. Among those opposed to AWDI's water application are four water
<br />districts, seven communities and counties and two water/irrigation
<br />users associations in the Valley, he told WRW. In addition, the state
<br />and three federal agencies, the BU/Rec, the National Park Service and
<br />the Bureau of Land Management, oppose AWDI's water filing.
<br />WRW asked D, Dale Shaffer, AWDI president, on July 28 whether
<br />his company did, in fact, plan to sell Closed Basin water to the
<br />Eastern Slope if the water court approves its water right application,
<br />"Yes," he replied. "We plan to sell water to the Eastern Slope and
<br />wherever we can. There is a water shortage here now." He emphasized
<br />that "AWDI is not opposed to the Closed Basin project." AWDI wrote to
<br />both Miller and Bradley in support of the Closed Basin project during
<br />the 1988 amendments to the 1972 law, "In developing our water right,
<br />we think we will be complementary to the Closed Basin project," he
<br />said, Shaffer cited U.S. Geological survey water studies and studies
<br />that AWDI has commissioned which indicate at least 300,000 acre-feet
<br />of water evaporate from the Closed Basin annually. "It is one of the
<br />largest (groundwater) recharging basins in the country, recharging
<br />about 90 percent of its water," he told WRW. His point was that the
<br />Closed Basin aquifer can handle the salvage of 300,000 acre-feet of
<br />groundwater annually, 100,000 acre-feet thru the Closed Basin project
<br />and 200,000 acre-feet thru development of the AWDI water right.
<br />Maurice F. strong, the Canadian who put AWDI together and is its
<br />board chairman, has been a resident of Crestone in the northern part
<br />of the San Luis valley for a decade. He has told valley residents in
<br />the past two years that he hopes to bring jobs to the Valley in de-
<br />veloping the AWDI water right. Even tho the economy in the area is
<br />perennially fragile, water is also perennially short in the Valley, so
<br />the Valley's reception to Strong's plans has been very cool. strong is
<br />an entrepreneur who has made money in many fields, including oil,
<br />banking, and land development. He has been active in several United
<br />Nations environmental and humanitarian programs. (more)
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