You're right, it ain't long division

Your math looks good to me, Roger. I noticed you made the same excellent point on that BBS link that Sam provided. Is it possible, however, that more than one party is using the Loop as a "ploy" as you put it?
One famous ploy in political gamesmanship goes by the name of "Closing the Washington National Monument". It involves disengenously offering up a sacrificial, but sacred lamb knowing that public outcry will not only keep the axe from falling, but will scare your opponents into backing off. Years ago, the U.S. Dept. of Interior, when told to develop an austere budget, proposed to close the Washington National Monument in order to mobilize popular support for higher levels of funding.
Could it be that several upstream communities are also playing a form of this time-honored strategy to fight Golden's claim on more water (knowing that the amount of water used by the Loop isn't even material)?
BTW, who's Phil?
Brian