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Letter: Major issues with Wockner’s message

“The Colorado River is sending us a message” by Gary Wockner in the Aug. 24 edition of the Vail Daily was so flawed, I’m surprised it got put out by Writers on the Range. One of the main purposes of Glen Canyon Dam is to provide water storage so that the Colorado River upper basin states can meet their compact obligations in drought years.

If the dam goes, the upper basin (that’s us, Wyoming, Utah and part of New Mexico) will be subject to a compact call in drought years. Instead of the voluntary Demand Management Program that is being considered, Coloradans would be subject to mandatory water shut-offs, presumably junior rights first.

Anyone who is an actual environmentalist knows that it is critical to keep water in the streambeds, but Wockner just completely ignores this, albeit after pointing it out. His stance is that it’s OK to let streams go dry as long as agriculture gets its water.



Also, the base load electric power that is created at the dam cannot easily be replaced by solar and wind energy, which is intermittent.

Water policy is confusing and fraught enough without printing complete nonsense. Believe me, I never thought I would write a letter defending the Glen Canyon Dam.

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Cynthia Lepthien

Eagle


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