Tipton’s bill aims to protect water rights from the feds

By Randy Wyrick

WASHINGTON – The U.S. congressman representing Colorado’s entire Western Slope reintroduced a bill last week that prohibits the federal government from taking water rights without paying for them.Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo) reintroduced their Water Rights Protection Act. The bill passed in the House last year but died without a hearing in the Senate.It’s aimed at stopping two U.S. Forest Service directives:• The groundwater directive targets groundwater users of all kinds, including ranching, mining, utilities and ski areas operating on federal land.• The ski area directive would transfer ownership of ski area water rights to the …

Source:: Vail Daily Feed