The Water Information Program

Pitkin County officials are contemplating a special tax that would ensure a water supply, regardless of future water-right conflicts. At least a partial answer on whether they should impose such a tax is expected on June 3, when the Board of County Commissioners will be briefed on the results of a survey of county residents regarding water and other issues. The county has been toying with the idea of establishing a 0.1 percent sales tax increase to raise roughly $1 million annually for a “water fund,” and included questions on the subject in a recently conducted telephone survey. County commissioners told officials in the town of Basalt recently that the county needs at least $150,000 annually for technical and legal advice to verify and enforce water rights and to negotiate water rights purchases, not to mention the money needed to actually buy the rights. Tne reason for the county’s interest is that unappropriated or underused water rights in the Roaring Fork and Colorado rivers are coveted by water authorities in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, county officials maintained this week. And one local water expert noted that drastic measures might be required to ensure future water supplies for the Roaring Fork Valley, such as damming creeks and rivers and creating new reservoirs, if there is any truth to warnings about future "water wars" in the West.

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