Daniel Wood’s Interview With Maurice Strong: THE WIZARD OF BACA GRANDE

A story about the biggest water deal ever.

"In the earliest stages of the Baca project, many of the local people viewed the arrival of the Strongs and their worldly friends much as they would an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease. The place was called "Cult City" by kinder folk, and a centre of cannibalism, ritual deaths, and communism by those of a more fanciful mind. In time, according to Crestone's grey-haired historian and lifetime resident, Gladys Sisemore, most people have come to accept the newcomers. "You have to take the bitter with the sweet," she says as she sits crocheting, describing her reaction to the strangers she occasionally meets on Main Street. But practically no one in Crestone - practically no one, in fact across the entire San Luis Valley - has accommodated himself to plans to sell the water.

"American Water Development associates, Alabama-born Buddy Whitlock, reminding valleys residents he's and environmentalist, that he has his home there, that he wouldn't jeopardize the region's ecosystem. He has reassured people that - if water is pumped out - its first use will be to revitalize the valley. But the ranchers, farmers, and local landowners remain unimpressed. They don't trust him."

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