In 2005 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management offered up thousands
of acres of federal land in Colorado to drilling. Because the
land was in the heart of an area that supplies drinking water to
55,000 people in the western part of the state, the plan drew
strong opposition from local communities. The concerns they
raised — that the disruption and chemicals used in drilling
might ruin their water — foreshadowed similar concerns that have
since rippled across the country as drilling operations expand
from Wyoming to New York. And their solution may be a lesson
that ripples to those communities as well. The communities — the
city of Grand Junction and the neighboring town of Palisades —
began by making their concerns clear: drilling is important, but
protecting the water supply is paramount.