An agreement seems closer over the Preferred Options Storage Plan, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "A 'super ditch' water management program is a key part of negotiations over proposed water storage legislation shared Wednesday by the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District board at its monthly meeting. The district has been negotiating with participants in the Preferred Storage Options Plan for 18 months. In May, a PSOP bill being drafted by the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District stalled partly because the Lower Ark and Colorado Springs have not reached agreement on key issues. 'Our mission is not to let agricultural water leave the basin,' said John Singletary, Lower Ark chairman. 'We have found a tool to do it.' Singletary said an agreement could be reached soon, within a month at most. Colorado Springs also is hopeful an agreement is near, Bruce McCormick, chief water services officer said in a telephone interview following the meeting...
"Colorado Springs is hoping to move PSOP forward, as well as getting support for its Southern Delivery System through negotiations, McCormick said. Others in the negotiations are the Southeastern District, Pueblo Board of Water Works, City of Pueblo, Pueblo West, Aurora, Fountain and the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District. Last year, all parties asked Congress to hold off on any PSOP bill until an agreement was reached. A cornerstone of negotiations, from the Lower Ark's point of view, has been Colorado Springs' acceptance of a water management plan. The plan would provide valleywide leasing of ditch water to avoid the wholesale purchases that have devastated parts of the valley in the past, Singletary said. Attorneys for the Lower Ark Wednesday stressed the district could not legally control a water management agency, although the district would help fund the steps leading up to the formation of a what water lawyer Peter Nichols called 'super ditch company.'"
Category: Colorado Water
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