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<br />-, <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />;r' <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />working with federal agencies and local entities to stabilize the water level at Trinidad Lake <br />to improve recreational opportunities. <br />Most recent]y. the State Engineer has promulgated rules and regulations requiring <br />well owners to measure and report ground water use each year beginning in ]994. The data <br />on ground water use will help define the amount of augmentation water needed to allow well <br />owners to continue to pump post-compact wells. <br />"The Kansas litigation has already cost millions of dollars and has raised the specter <br />of a bidding war for Arkansas River Basin water," Romer said. "The challenge J have placed <br />before the Arkansas River Coordinating Committee is to develop effective, equitable and <br />economical responses to the long-term water issues facing Southeastern Colorado." <br />The committee will advise the State Engineer on rules to regulate ground water <br />pumping in response to Special Master Arthur Littleworth's ruling that ground water use in <br />Colorado is depleting water in the mainstem of the Arkansas River. The committee will also <br />recommend options for responding to future decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court in the <br />Kansas vs. Colorado lawsuit. <br />Additionally, the committee will recommend ways to accomplish the other water, <br />wild]ife and recreation goals set forth by past state and ]ocaI planning efforts. <br />The creation of the Arkansas River Coordinating Committee is the outgrowth of <br />discussions Romer initiated when he and Lochhead visited Trinidad and Lamar in early May. <br />Romer said, "Everyone we spoke to was very concerned about the potential impacts <br />of the Kansas lawsuit. Though there was some resistance to forming yet another committee, <br />there was also a universal recognition that some mechanism was needed to bring a1] affected <br />parties to the table to receive information and to assure that local perspectives have a <br />prominent place in the decision-making process." <br /> <br />1## <br />