December 19, 2007--Surface water users object to valley plan (Pueblo Chieftain)
An attorney for one of the objectors to a plan that would cut groundwater use in the north-central San Luis Valley said Monday that the proposal didn't do enough to protect surface water users. Tim Buchanan, legal counsel for the San Antonio, Los Pinos and the Conejos River Acequia Preservation Association, criticized the plan for lacking specifics. The water management plan for subdistrict No. 1 would use a combination of assessment fees and federal conservation dollars to pay groundwater users within its boundaries to retire up to 40,000 acres from production. Proponents of the plan view it as a way to stabilize aquifer levels and eliminate the impacts of groundwater use on senior surface water rights.
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