{"id":313,"date":"2025-04-12T11:37:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T11:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yakbeetlepress.net\/?p=313"},"modified":"2025-04-28T11:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:26:30","slug":"letters-dont-dry-the-lower-arkansas-valley-by-selling-rights-to-water-hungry-developers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yakbeetlepress.net\/index.php\/2025\/04\/12\/letters-dont-dry-the-lower-arkansas-valley-by-selling-rights-to-water-hungry-developers\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters: Don\u2019t dry the Lower Arkansas Valley by selling rights to water hungry developers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Water is a finite resource; growth is an unending drain<\/h4>\n

Re: “Lower Arkansas Valley: Clash over water<\/a>,” April 6 news story<\/p>\n

While visiting a local business the other day in Rocky Ford, I noticed the headline in the local paper about another attempted water grab in the Lower Arkansas Valley by Colorado Springs.\u00a0I am a\u00a0fifth-generation\u00a0farmer, and we have agricultural interests in Kansas and Colorado, including in the valley.<\/p>\n

For anyone unaware of the consequences of these water grabs, it would be timely to take a drive through Ordway, Las Animas, or other locations in the valley.\u00a0There\u00a0you can see the impact of the greed of cities and developers.<\/p>\n

The reality is that the cities and the developers operate on the assumption that there is a God-given right to develop. Last Sunday, there were also articles about the massive growth around DIA and the need to widen Pe\u00f1a Boulevard to handle the higher volumes of traffic. Really? The fact is that we are dealing with finite resources, and there are limits to growth.<\/p>\n

I am fully aware of the water savings technology that is in use in agriculture, and there are multiple ways in which that technology can and should\u00a0be used\u00a0in urban settings.\u00a0But when we have unaccountable bureaucrats\u00a0who have\u00a0no incentive to conserve, the result is bound to be bad.<\/p>\n

Until there are some honest conversations and leadership at all levels of government in Colorado about the limits to growth that are tied to finite water resources, the conversations about saving the Colorado River and other water sources are just for show.<\/p>\n

Ben Palen, Denver<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m pretty sure they teach\u00a0the basics of supply and demand\u00a0in business 101. But just in case the people in charge of these decisions skipped that class, let’s review. There’s no question the Front Range needs water to continue to develop. That’s the demand side.<\/p>\n

The problem is the search for new water sources in areas that don’t have water to spare. We don’t need to duplicate the actions of Los Angeles that turned the Owens Valley into a desert, with the same outcome for the Arkansas River Valley in Colorado. How about a different approach? Look to obtain new sources of water from areas that have a surplus of water.<\/p>\n

The Missouri River and Mississippi River basins flood with regularity almost every year. This would be the supply side of the equation. Why not run a pipeline to the Front Range? It seems feasible that they could run a pipeline that would parallel existing oil pipelines. They could also utilize solar, wind and backup generators to run the pumps.<\/p>\n

The immediate argument is that we can’t; it’s too expensive. Yes, it is expensive, but can’t never got anything done. Los Angeles proved that water runs uphill to money, and the money is there. It’s there in the form of insurance settlements to pay for all the damage the flooding does every year to that region. It would require reallocating how the money gets spent. It would require a functioning federal government. It would require political willpower. The issue isn’t the short supply of water; it’s the short supply of imagination.<\/p>\n

Mike L. Keith, Gunnison<\/em><\/p>\n

Commuter rail is Front Range issue to solve<\/h4>\n

Re: “Still waiting: Endless barriers prevent start of construction on train from Pueblo to Fort Collins<\/a>,” April 6 commentary<\/p>\n