By Rick Boychuk
   Maurice Strong says his support of the spiritual communities in the Baca was, among other things, one of the issues that caused a “deep division of interest” between himself and fellow investors in American Water Development, Inc. (AWDI)
   The “division of interest” prompted Strong to resign from the company in December. Strong said that it was actually the failure of his water scheme that caused his demise.
   Strong said within the past year he “lost control” of the company to a Pennsylvania banking group led by Alex Crutchfield and Vancouver, Canada financier, and CEO of Federated States, Sam Belzberg.
   Both the Belzberg and Crutchfield interests were among the original investors in the company. They increased their shareholdings last year when they purchased the shares of a fourth investor.
   When the company submitted an application to Colorado Water Court in 1986 for permission to withdraw 200,000 acre-feet of water a year, Strong said the water would be used to irrigate farmland in the valley and brew beer. However, within the last year it has become clear that he was focusing almost exclusively on the export of the water to the Front Range and other regions with estimated profits of up to $1 billion per year.
   Valley residents welcomed Strong’s resignation but many remain skeptical that the battle is really over.
   Greg Gosar, an organic beef and wheat farmer, says, “Strong’s got a lot of bridges to mend in this valley. We will just have to wait and see what this means.”