Oh, really? Theft of the property of others is now called "water harvesting" (hcn, 10/13/08). So ... Even if you are a government agency or municipality, by all means necessary, just take what doesn't belong to you. It has become the way of solving situations, where someone has recently arrived on the scene, knowing full well that they own no right to take the water of others. It is now perfectly proper to jump the fence on the farm that has been there 150 years and take an apple or a potato without paying for it. After all, the farmer has lots of apples and potatoes.

There are numerous ways in most areas of colorado to solve this shortage dilemma. Water conservancy districts have long provided water for lease, to exchange the water taken for water released from bureau of reclamation projects and other water district facilities. There is no need to steal!

Ray Walker
Jaco, Costa Rica