Leaders to Learn From I am struck by the way water issues continue to have such an impact on human behavior. Although guns of the 19th century appear to be absent from today’s water disputes, other weapons—legislative, legal, rhetorical—indicate that water is still for fighting. The more climate changes and population increases, the more likely it is that meeting the arid West’s myriad water demands will be contentious. Those responsible for determining who gets what face both a hydraulic and moral dilemma, the resolution of which will demand extraordinary leadership. But somebody’s ox is going to be gored! Under a state constitution that gives ownership of natural streams to the public, subject to beneficial prior appropriation, questions continue to arise regarding what Article XVI, Section 5 actually means: Which groups of Coloradans are considered owners of the state’s water? and Which of many possible uses is considered most beneficial when there are competing demands for and diminishing quantities of water? Anyone making these decisions faces enormous criticism from those who feel left out or bullied. In the case of the West Slope, which has always had the advantage of plenty of water but the disadvantage of fewer people, the idea of giving up any of its best natural resource to urban and agricultural interests on the Front Range has consistently provoked visceral outrage. But compromises have been found, almost always because extraordinary individuals have emerged to bring common sense to the negotiating table. In the case of the Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) Project of the 1930s, leaders from both sides of the Continental Divide stepped up to the plate. Attorney Frank Delaney recognized the flawed position of his congressman’s demand that the C-BT would have to store just as much water on the West Slope as it planned for diversion to the Front Range. Severely criticized for appearing to buckle under pressure, Delaney persuaded his colleagues that Colorado’s water belonged to all the people of the state and the West Slope had no right to ask for more than its people could use. On the other side of the table, Charles Hansen, editor of the Greeley Tribune, tired of what he called "the foolish breach" between East and West slopes. With the help of J.M. Dille, he managed to create an atmosphere of congeniality that resulted in progress toward a solution. Delph Carpenter applied the same lesson when negotiating the Colorado River Compact in 1922. During the seven-state meetings in Santa Fe, his primary opponent was Arizona’s W. S. Norviel. For Carpenter, the key to working with Norviel, as well as the other commissioners, was "comity." He believed that time, thought, patience, and honest personal discourse could solve any problem. And he understood that opposing views could be converted into agreements if negotiators were optimistic, engaged in building consensus, and determined to avoid litigation. Like Hansen and Delaney, Carpenter was a gentleman. So was WD Farr. Marked by stresses of the Great Depression, Farr knew that survival in agriculture depended on hard work, good luck, and an unswerving determination to find better ways to do things. As president of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District’s Municipal Subdistrict, he became one of the principal negotiators for another transmountain diversion: the Windy Gap Project. For years, lawyers on both sides increased their business exponentially as the combatants resorted to the weapon of choice: litigation. But Farr believed common sense could trump litigation, and he persuaded Chris Jouflas, president of the Colorado River Water Conservation District, to meet without attorneys to hammer out a fair agreement.
By Dan Tyler
Surrounded by ranchers, who saw in Farr a courteous and respectful person in whom they could have confidence, he and Jouflas reached agreement. Willing to listen and committed to treating everyone equally, Farr’s demeanor was the antithesis of hardliners on both sides who refused to abandon their sacred principles. The same challenges exist today, even as the needs and interests of Coloradans have changed. The Northern Integrated Water Supply Project (NISP) is a case in point. No one came forward in the 1930s to argue that the Colorado River should remain pristine and undammed. But with the arrival of a population focused on recreation and environmental concerns, a proposed off-stream reservoir on the Poudre River has evoked enormous criticism from those who want the river to remain as it is. NISP opponents have stated clearly their determination to stop the project. Period! The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, along with 15 other supportive entities, argues the project is necessary for northern Colorado’s farms and cities. At this point, however, no Delaney, Hansen, Carpenter or Farr has assumed a leadership role. Consequently, arguments on both sides have become increasingly contentious, and participants find themselves entrenched for battle and hopeful the courts will rule in their favor. Another controversy gives off the same feel of irresolute conflict. The Colorado Water Congress (CWC) has declared war on two Public Trust initiatives designed to amend the state constitution. CWC leaders view the so-called Public Trust Doctrine as enemy No .1, and Colorado Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs has stated that, if adopted, the doctrine would function like a "nuclear bomb" on Colorado’s 150-year-old system of prior appropriation. Without question, the Public Trust Doctrine is a threat to the way water has been allocated in Colorado. If implemented by a vote of the people, it would result in a challenge to existing water rights (lawsuits) and would amount to the taking of private property requiring compensation. That said, the state’s water leaders might benefit from a review of the Delaney-Hansen-Carpenter-Farr approach to such discordant issues. If the CWC’s objective is to honor the constitutionally protected public ownership of Colorado’s natural streams, a dialogue with Public Trust advocates is long overdue. Some water allocations in Colorado have been made without considering a public interest that has shifted radically over the past century. This neglect is understandable. By nature, the public interest is mercurial, hard to nail down. But that doesn’t mean it should be ignored. If water leaders can better inform themselves of the impetus behind the Public Trust initiatives, while presenting themselves to the public as willing to listen, empathize, and react to complex and evolving public views, the legacy of Delaney, Hansen, Carpenter, Farr and others will be seen as a significant component of a water policy that truly honors Article XVI, Section 5 of the Colorado Constitution. —Daniel Tyler, an emeritus professor of history at Colorado State University, has taught and written extensively on western water history for decades. In 1992, Tyler published The Last Water Hole in the West, chronicling the development of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. He published his biography of Delph Carpenter, Silver Fox of the Rockies: Delphus E. Carpenter and Western Water Compacts, in 2003 and, more recently, a biography of WD Farr, WD Farr: Cowboy in the Boardroom, in 2012.
CITIZEN’S GUIDE TO COLORADO’S TRANSBASIN DIVERSIONS
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