Colorado Water
Attorney General Ken Salazar held a meeting yesterday with Southeastern Colorado groups to warn them of the danger of water grabs by thirsty Metro Denver and Northern Colorado cities, according to the Rocky Mountain News ["February 11, 2004, "Water hogs to drain Arkansas' trough?"]. From the article, "Specifically, Salazar said, counties in the region need to more fully develop their '1041' powers, a phrase linked to House Bill 1041, passed in 1974, that gives counties the right to utilize land-use regulations to exact concessions from - or even stop - someone else's water project...Salazar, whose family has farmed and ranched in the San Luis Valley for nearly 150 years, said more agricultural counties should follow the lead of mountain counties and develop their 1041 regulations. Those rules were used by Eagle County to kill Homestake II, a project that would have brought water from the Holy Cross Wilderness on the Western Slope to Colorado Springs and Aurora. They were also used to protect Grand County in negotiations with Denver Water. The result was construction of the Wolford Mountain Reservoir, which serves both Denver and the Western Slope, Salazar said."
Meanwhile Ken Salazar's brother, Representative John Salazar, is sponsoring a bill designed to compensate basins that have water diverted to other areas, according to the Denver Post [February 11, 2004, "Salazars chart different courses on water issue"]. From the article, "The attorney general's brother, state Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, is sponsoring a bill that would require those who divert water from a river basin to first strike a deal to compensate communities for the economic impact of the water's loss. Reached at the Capitol, John Salazar laughed when told of his younger brother's pessimism about the bill's prospects. He conceded, however, that 16 similar bills have failed in the past 15 legislative sessions. The state representative said he is trying to win over opponents by crafting more specific wording on future water uses than past bills have included."
5:58:32 AM 
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