Colorado Water
Chips Barry, manager of Denver Water, and David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited have penned an opinion piece about the recent agreement around the future of the South Platte River in today's Rocky Mountain News [March 19, 2004, "Speakout: Cease-fire on the South Platte River"]. From the article, "Denver Water and other local governments and utilities, through an ad hoc Wild and Scenic Task Force, proposed that the Forest Service allow local interests time to craft a local river protection plan as an alternative to Wild and Scenic designation. Nobody knew what the final plan might look like and whether consensus could be reached at all, but water users, county governments, anglers, landowners, and environmentalists such as Trout Unlimited, Environmental Defense, Aurora, Highlands Ranch, Douglas County and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, all agreed to sit down and make the effort. We learned very early on that, while groups had diametrically opposed positions on the issue of Wild and Scenic designation, our interests were not so incompatible after all. Water users opposed designation, but their interest was in maintaining flexibility for water operations and preserving the ability to develop future water supplies...After seven years of working together on a shared vision for the South Platte, what is perhaps most remarkable is that former Two Forks foes are now willing to rely on each other's good faith in dealing with the river that unites us. That is a reflection of just how far we've come, and of the value of trading in conflict for cooperation."
6:38:29 AM 
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