The Spin Cycle ; 'Forums' Feature Anti-Springs Propaganda

Summary

---

As galley slaves on the good ship Gazette, we couldn't leave our oars long enough to attend a congressional field hearing on regional water issues in Pueblo on Friday. But based on published reports, a review of the written testimony and the accounts of several attendees, it was pretty much what we expected -- a simplistic water policy morality play in which villainous urban areas, a la Snidely Whiplash, plot to dry up agricultural areas of the Arkansas Valley in order to satisfy their unquenchable water lust.

The reality is far different, of course, since agricultural interests still use about 85 percent of the water in Colorado. And despite all the talk about how agriculture is getting shortchanged, one witness pointed out that the Fryingpan-Arkansas project disproportionately benefits farmers. When President John F. Kennedy dedicated the project in 1962, it was supposed to balance the needs of urban and rural water users. But today, as Bill Long of the Southeastern Colorado Conservancy District pointed out, agricultural interests make up 75 percent of project beneficiaries, while cities use just 25 percent of project assets. The intended balance has not been struck, in other words, even though the people of El Paso County have paid $65 million into the project.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

The Spin Cycle ; 'Forums' Feature Anti-Springs Propaganda

Kennedy warned in 1962 about those who would use water, and this project in particular, to pit agricultural and urban areas against each other. It was prophetic, since Friday's hearing was organized by, and packed with, p...

See the full content of this document

---