Here's part IV of the Denver Post's series Liquid Assets: Turning Water into Gold [November 23, 2005, "Law makes, breaks men"]. The article deals with the recent rulings by the State Supreme Court and Water courts that disallow the pumping of water from alluvial aquifers without compensating the rivers and streams with replacement water. From the article, "His farm survived the worst drought in a century. But it may not withstand a regulatory reversal that has shut down more than a thousand farm wells across northeastern Colorado. 'I had a farm worth probably close to a million dollars. Now it's worth almost nothing,' McCracken said. Glen Kobobel, a neighboring well user, is only slightly better off. He spent $61,000 to buy into a plan that let him water less than half his fields this year. In a year with good snowpack and full reservoirs, 'we're sitting here turned off. It doesn't make any sense to me,' he said. 'We need to be compensated for what's been taken from us.' Colorado law disagreed. And McCracken's and Kobobel's loss is someone else's gain.' It seems that the water stories in Colorado are always about who is being dried up. Read the whole article before it scrolls behind the Post paywall.
Pueblo is pushing forward with their lawsuit against Colorado Springs for pollution in Fountain Creek, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Pueblos District Attorney Bill Thiebaut appears adamant about pressing forward with his suit over sewage spills into Fountain Creek by Colorado Springs. This definitely will help focus Colorado Springs officials on the problems their community is foisting on Pueblo and the Lower Arkansas Valley. Mr. Thiebaut addressed a gathering last week at St. Leander's Church on the East Side. He noted that as district attorney he cannot allow further repetitions of the sewage spills that have plagued the Fountain - and particularly the residents of the low-income East Side - over recent years. The civil suit asks the federal court to require Colorado Springs to take actions to eliminate future spills and to pay a civil penalty of up to $32,500 per day for each violation of the federal Clean Water Act. Since 1998, 15 major sewage releases by Colorado Springs totaled more than 73 million gallons."
Pueblo Chieftain: "Colorado Springs has filed a complaint in El Paso District Court seeking to clarify whether Pueblo County can apply new land use regulations to a proposed water supply pipeline. 'We don't believe Pueblo County's revised 1041 regulations should apply to (the Southern Delivery System),' said Steve Berry, Colorado Springs Utilities spokesman. 'We need a resolution, so we asked the court to get involved. Pueblo County has not been responsive for two years.' Berry said the action does not seek any money or penalties, but simply to answer the question of Pueblo County's authority over the $1 billion project, which would build a 66-inch-diameter, 43-mile pipeline from Pueblo Dam, and pump it to a new reservoir east of Colorado Springs."
Category: Colorado Water
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