Durango Herald: "Ask either of the major candidates for governor about water, and he'll start by saying he grew up on a farm. Republican Bob Beauprez's family had a dairy farm with 'a very junior water right,' he says, while Democrat Bill Ritter says times were even harder for him - his family leased a half-section wheat field with no water rights at all. In a way, the rivals' biographies reflect the stark reality of Colorado agriculture: Neither farm exists anymore. Beauprez converted his farm into a golf course and subdivision. Ritter's mother had to sell her land when the well dried up. A storage unit and shopping mall now occupy the land. Colorado lost 2.5 million acres of agricultural land between 1987 and 2002, according to a March 2006 study by Environment Colorado. And farms will be especially pressured as Coloradans struggle for water over the next 25 years. By 2030, the state's current water resources will meet only 80 percent of its needs, according to the Statewide Water Supply Initiative, a 2004 study. Whoever wins the Nov. 7 election will inherit this tricky problem. The two candidates share many of the same solutions, but they differ on how quickly they want to build new reservoirs...
"Both say the solution starts with more conservation, and both say new storage will be necessary. But Beauprez is quicker to talk about the need for reservoirs, while Ritter emphasizes strict conservation, reuse and contracts for sharing water with farmers. 'We can expand existing reservoirs where possible and build new reservoirs when necessary,' Beauprez told the Colorado Water Congress in Breckenridge on Aug. 25. Ritter countered with a warning about growth. 'If you're talking about water, you have to look at the prospect of unprecedented growth taking place on the Front Range,' Ritter said. The 2004 water study predicts that 2 million new people will move to the South Platte Basin by 2030. The Western Slope will see even higher growth rates. Statewide, the population is expected to increase 65 percent, to 7.1 million by 2030. Ritter points to Denver's successful response to the 2002 drought, when customers dramatically cut their water use and have kept it far below pre-drought levels through this year."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
2:59:44 PM 
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