Colorado Water
Aurora is close to inking a deal to use more Arkansas river water, according to the Rocky Mountain News [February 20, 2004, "Aurora close to water deal"]. From the article, "If completed, the deal for up to 12,600 acre feet of water would cost the city $5.5 million and would be the largest temporary water supply agreement ever reached in Colorado...A bill was passed last year that allows the state to approve temporary changes of water rights. Prior to that, such a deal would have meant a permanent change from agricultural to municipal use, a lengthy and complicated process. The State Water Engineer has approved the plan, which calls for about 150 farmers with High Line Canal water rights to keep about 8,400 acres out of crop production this year. The water would get into the Aurora water storage system through a series of exchanges with other users in the Arkansas River basin. Tauer said the lease will help the city's reservoirs recover from the drought. Right now the Aurora system is at only about 45 percent of capacity and that is expected to drop to 40 percent by the end of April. Several challenges remain to complete the deal. First, the city is facing a March 1 deadline set by the State Water Engineer to wrap things up. Before then, Aurora must reach an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the Pueblo Reservoir, for storage rights. City officials are also negotiating with the Colorado Well Protective and Development Association to augment agricultural and municipal water users downstream if runoff is below normal."
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