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LATEST LETTERS

Grand Lake’s water woes

Sunday, October 28 at 2:00 PM

Phyllis Thomas of Centennial writes:

The article, “Clear Goal for Grand Lake", written by Jerd Smith and published on October 20, 2007, exposed the degradation of the state’s largest, natural lake. The author attributed two factors to the diminished clarity of the lake and the increased level of toxins during the summer months. They included the infrastructure created for the transfer of water by the Colorado-Big Thompson project and the pollution generated by surrounding communities. Concerned residents and Grand County officials look to the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and to the federal agency, the Bureau of Reclamation, to ameliorate the condition of the lake.
Conservancy districts, by law, have the charge to “provide for the conservation of the water resources of the state of Colorado and for the greatest beneficial use of the water within this state” (Colo. Rev.
Stat. § 37-45-102).
It is commendable that the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District wishes to participate in the restoration of the lake; however, pointing fingers at developers and the Grand Lake community as culprits violates their basic duty. Of the three solutions proposed in the article, the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission will consider if the state should establish a clarity standard for the lake. The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District should assess the feasibility of the other two suggestions, intermittently stopping the pumps that draw water from the lake or removing Grand Lake from the water distribution network.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

Save the lake. Take it off the re-distribution network.

Posted by on October 30, 2007 09:14 AM