[EDITORIAL] Water rights in Colorado could get special legal protection from condemnation under a bill introduced in the state Legislature. It's not hard to understand why the measure has gathered support form a variety of interest groups. Without such protection, there is always the possibility Front Range water interests seeking additional sources of water may declare that agricultural or other rights in rural areas could be put to better use supplying the needs of large metropolitan areas. Then, by paying a fair market value for the rights, major municipalities throughout the state--and not merely those along the Front Range--could condemn them and claim them for their own. House Bill 1036, designed to prevent that from happening, won approval in the House Agricultural, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee.

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