Puttin’ in the ditch

Posted by egable on July 14th, 2007 filed in Wilderness

The National Park Service warned Congress this week that leaving an irrigation ditch out of the wilderness proposal for Rocky Mountain National Park could make the federal agency liable if the ditch fails, the Denver Post reported. The 17-mile ditch provides water to crops in Larimer and Weld counties. “This could set a dangerous precedent for all national parks and other public lands, with implications far beyond the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park,” Katherine Stevenson, acting assistant director of business services for the agency, told the Senate subcommittee on national parks Thursday. Stevenson said the measure would require the park service to prove negligence by the ditch operators should a problem such as a breech occur. The protections for ditch operators had been added to the bill, which is sponsored by Colorado Democrats Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. Mark Udall, as a way of bringing Republican members of Colorado’s delegation on board.