Wrong and illegal

EDITORIAL
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

THE ANNOUNCEMENT last week that the Bureau of Reclamation and Aurora had signed a 40-year contract for that city’s use of Fryingpan-Arkansas Project facilities wasn’t unexpected. But the deal is wrong - and outright illegal.

The contract, if it were to hold up, would grant Aurora the use of Lake Pueblo for storage and exchanges of the water it has purchased out of the Arkansas River. The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District immediately announced its plans to file suit in federal court to stop the deal.

That lawsuit most likely will call for a full environmental impact statement on the contract and question the bureau’s legal authority to issue such a contract. And that goes to the very heart of the matter.

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