Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Doug Shriver, who was tragically killed with his friend Ray Wright on Friday, March 19, while clearing snow from the roof of Mr. Wright's cabin above Creede, Colorado. Mr. Shriver was my friend and a tremendously respected member of the San Luis Valley and Colorado water community. He was only 54 years old. Combined, both of these men held nearly 60 years of water knowledge related to the Upper Rio Grande basin and State of Colorado. Shriver was on the Colorado Ground Water Commission and served as president of the Rio Grande Water Users Association, an umbrella organization for ditch companies along the Rio Grande. All of these board positions were on a volunteer basis. Doug's service on these boards put him in the middle of the San Luis Valley's successful fight to keep its groundwater, sought by the American Water Development, Inc., and later the Stockmen's Water Company, both who hoped to sell it to the big cities. At the time of his death, he championed the establishment of subdistricts to further protect the San Luis Valley's groundwater, a concept where groundwater users pay a combination of fees and assessments to retire farm ground and reduce groundwater pumping to protect the aquifer. Shriver was a visionary in the San Luis Valley and Colorado water community. He strongly believed that both wildlife and agriculture could live together, and was a vocal advocate for the rural way of life at the Statewide level.…”