Whiskey is for drink'in......Water is for fight'in" is an often used phrase when the conversation leads to water rights in Colorado. For decades wars over water, our most important resource, have been waged. It's time once again to open up the Jack Daniels and load the old double barrel because a new "Water War" is on the horizon in Colorado.

This battle is quite different than those in the past as it has nothing to do with who gets to drink the water but who is entitled to use the resource for recreational purposes. These purposes include fishing, floating, hunting, and access to public lands on the other side of private property.

The Colorado constitution guaranteed the right and dedicated the use to the public many years ago. Although the original wording in the constitution is subject to interpretation, it clearly dedicates non-consumptive ownership to the public until the water is appropriated.

How to access this property is another matter. Civil and criminal trespassing laws protecting private land ownership exclude the public from the streambeds, banks, and the airspace above the water. It could be argued that the only legal way for the public to access the resource would require diving gear and only if you did not incidentally touch the stream bed or rise above the surface.

A grass roots organization, Coloradans for Fair Fishing (CFFF) seeks to amend the current criminal trespass laws to allow the public access on the streambed. This amendment would open up to public access some 4,500 miles of streams and rivers in Colorado.

They (CFFF) were granted permission by the state legislature to circulate a petition known as the stream access initiative. If successful in obtaining the required 54,000 signatures by early July the amendment to Colorado's criminal trespass laws will be placed on the November ballot for the public to decide.

Many other states allow the public to access streams and rivers adjacent to or on private property. Montana recently enacted similar changes in their laws that allow public access not only on the streambed but also on the banks up to the high-water mark.

The sporting public is clearly behind this initiative as witnessed at the Gart Brothers, International Sportsmen Symposium in Denver. The initiative was presented to the public at the Colorado Fishing Federation booth. About eight out of every ten persons passing by the booth stopped to sign the petition. Most of the signers were aware of the movement and enthusiastically supported it. If this is any indication of the support for the amendment it will clearly make it to the ballot box.

This should come as no surprise if you consider about 1 in every 4 Coloradans are licensed anglers. The economic impact of fishing in our state nearly equals $1 billion. Add Colorado's population explosion to the equation and it is easy to understand that sportsmen are finding access to be a major issue.

There are some who support access to the water but oppose this particular amendment as they feel it does not do enough. They point to a flaw in the amendment that only allows access to the streambed. This will easily result in and may encourage trespassing situations along the streambank, incidental or otherwise.

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