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Our view: Water deal is a great start

Kudos are in order for everyone involved in the historic East Slope-West Slope water agreement announced last Thursday at Devils Thumb Ranch, regardless of what devils may emerge from the details.

It’s no small accomplishment that five years of negotiations brought so many divergent interests to the table to forge an agreement with so many ostensibly laudable provisions for this side of the Continental Divide.

If nothing else, tacit in the entire process is the notion that, despite what a strict interpretation of hoary Colorado water laws might dictate, the interests of the West Slope do in fact matter. In that regard, this agreement truly is “unprecedented.”



Grand County officials deserve a big shout out as well for the significant role they played in securing provisions beneficial to the Fraser and Colorado rivers as well as the guarantee from Denver Water that the agency will not come to Grand County for any future diversions without the blessings of Grand County and the Colorado River District.

Now, if we could get a similar guarantee for the entire West Slope from all Front Range water-diverters, we’d really be getting somewhere.


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