Deep perils

EDITORIAL
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

THE PROPOSAL to create a so-called Super Ditch in the Lower Arkansas Valley shows some promise, but there are also some Grand Canyon-deep perils if it is fashioned carelessly.

The idea was first promulgated by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. who also has served as the state’s natural resources director, among other positions. The proposal has been embraced by the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, which has been piecing together a plan which appears still far away in the future from being ready for fruition.

That concept is for the irrigation canal companies in the Lower Valley join forces collectively to lease a portion - perhaps 25 percent - of their water to other entities. The idea is to give farmers cash payments for fallowing a portion of their lands on a rotating basis.

Lower Ark District Chairman John Singletary has stated in the past there are enough users in this river basin to pay for the leased water. But the real fear is that the leased water would end up leaving this basin.

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The maxim in Colorado is that water flows uphill to money. And areas like Aurora and Douglas County are wealthy enough to outbid potential customers in this basin.