Letter to the Editor

Regulatory taking

Friday, March 25, 2005

Dear Editor,

I went to the irrigation meeting on March 10 where they explained the Integrated Management Plan Draft for the Lower Republican. I knew that we would have allocations, but I never expected to be told that my allocation for my well for the '05 year would be 2 inches. My well is classified as a supplemental well because it irrigates land that is also irrigated by canal water. If they had told me 10 inches, I could have lived with that, but this is so excessive that I feel this is a "regulatory taking" and feel that the state will have to compensate me for this "taking."

Most people have been led to believe that they will get 10-12 inches from their well, depending on when it was drilled.

For those people whose land is irrigated by both surface water (water from a canal system) and a well, their wells will be classified as a supplemental well.

As the rules read, they will get their allocation (10-12 inches) minus the surface water (8 inches from the Cambridge Irrigation District) which equals 2-4 inches. Unless you meet certain criteria, regardless of when your well was drilled, you will get only 2-4 inches from your well, a far cry from the 10-12 inches we were led to believe.

I feel this is excessive and is a "takings" as it has made our wells worthless.

A government regulation that pulls the rug out from under us should have to pay compensation for that "takings."

Dale Helms,

Holbrook

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