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JULY 3, 2014 VOLU M E 1 1 9 | I S S UE 22
ElbertCountyNews.net
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E L B E R T C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Water projects in limbo County falls short after request denied By Rick Gustafson
Special to Colorado Community Media
Tiegan Finnerty competes in steer wrestling at the Cowboy Up in Kiowa Rodeo on June 27. Photos by Rick Gustafson
Kiowa cowboys up for fun Fireworks follow rodeo, street fair and car show By Rick Gustafson
Special to Colorado Community Media
POSTAL ADDRESS
ELBERT COUNTY NEWS (USPS 171-100)
OFFICE: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Elizabeth, Colorado, the Elbert County News is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ELIZABETH, COLORADO and additional mailing offices.
The Cowboy Up in Kiowa Rodeo wrapped up two days of competition at the Elbert County Fairgrounds on June 28, signing off with a fireworks display and the Hometown Heroes Dance. The Colorado Professional Rodeo Association sanctioned event was just one of three activities attracting visitors to Kiowa over the weekend. Just down the hill from the bull riding, steer wrestling and team roping, classic cars lined Navajo street and vendors filled Nordman Park to show off their wares at the Sixth Annual Kiowa Street Fair and Car Show. The street fair and car show opened with the presentation of the colors by the Elizabeth VFW Color Guard on Saturday morning, and inside the park, vendors offered goods ranging from jewelry to hand-made scarfs and home-canned pickles. Michelle Oeser, Kiowa town administrator and coordinator of this year’s Kiowa Street Fair, said the event attracted 65 venders, and she was pleased with the turnout. In addition to shopping, the street fair included a live performance by local entertainers Billie Owens and Sue Link. There was a magic and puppet show for kids as well as tents with games and tests of skill where local groups, such as the Lions Club, re-
HawkQuest presented a bald eagle named Magissiwa during the Kiowa Street Fair and Car Show. warded contestant’s efforts with candy and toys. Animals were also a big attraction at this year’s street fair. In addition to a petting zoo and a mule-powered treadmill spinning an ice-cream churn, volunteers from HawkQuest, a Colorado-based
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Classic cars were on display at the Sixth Annual Kiowa Street Fair and Car Show on June 28.
Cowboy Up continues on Page 6
Elbert County commissioners and the Elbert County Water Advisory Committee are regrouping following the Arkansas Basin’s refusal to provide matching funds for a two-part plan to monitor and study water levels in aquifers underlying Elbert County. The denied request leaves the financially struggling county $46,000 short of the $377,000 required to fund the two projects. According to County Commissioner Robert Rowland, the Arkansas Roundtable’s Needs Committee acknowledged the merit of the plan but was unwilling to fund it because the project did not represent a vested interest to the Arkansas Basin. The Water Advisory Committee was seeking $46,000 from each of the three water roundtables located within the borders of the Elbert County: $6,000 for the three-year well monitoring network and $40,000 to fund the water supply study. The $18,000 of funding for well monitoring is a required match stipulated by a $96,500 grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board and must be secured before well monitoring can begin. Matching funds totaling $132,500 for the well monitoring have been secured from the U.S. Geological Survey and the federal government. The South Platte Basin Roundtable has already approved its share of the funding for both well monitoring and the followup study, and the Water Advisory Committee hopes to make up for at least the well monitoring shortfall when it meets with the Metro Basin Roundtable on July 9. The Water Advisory Committee WAC is a body appointed by the Elbert County commissioners in 2013 to assist the commissioners in researching and making water-related policies. In 2005 the Colorado General Assembly passed the 21st Century Act, establishing nine water basin roundtables throughout the state. The roundtables are designed to encourage locally driven solutions for water use and to represent each of the state’s eight major river basins as well the Denver metropolitan area. The basins are responsible for assessing various water needs and projects. Because counties’ boundaries were created without regard for river basins, three of the nine basin roundtables established by the act fall within Elbert County — the Arkansas Basin in the southeast corner, the South Platte Basin comprising two-thirds of the county, and the Metro Basin in the county’s northwest corner. Elbert County has budgeted $10,000 for the water supply study. The major goals of the two projects are to identify current water levels and the effect of water use on local water supplies, as well as to develop a long-term water-supply strategy. The real threat to aquifer levels may come from outside the county. The majority of Elbert County overlies the larger Denver Basin, a network of aquifers extending north from Colorado Springs to Greeley. Water continues on Page 6