Two water experts want voters to create a new state department that deals solely with protecting Colorado's natural resources.

Phil Doe, of Littleton, and Richard Hamilton, of Fairplay, filed a ballot initiative with the state on Wednesday to create the Department of Public Resource Conservation.

The new department, if approved by the voters in 2008, would assume a chunk of duties now overseen by other state departments, including Natural Resources and Public Health and Environment.

"This is all about the resources of the state, and how to protect them," Doe said. "We're talking land, air, water."

Under the current setup, Doe maintains that the time and energy the state spends on protecting natural resources depends on who is governor and who is in the legislature.

Under their proposal, a commission of elected members would establish policy for the department and hire its executive director. That is similar to how the Department of Education operates.

Existing boards and commissions, such as the Division of Wildlife, would be transferred from the governor's office to the new Department of Public Resource Conservation.

Hamilton said they are not creating more government but simply shifting existing government.

The proposal caught a number of environmental groups and lawmakers by surprise. They said they weren't aware of the proposal and need to read it.

But Sen. Ken Kester, R-Las Animas, said he was alarmed at the idea and even more worried that the voters could be "fooled" into voting for it.

"Look what happened with Amendment 41. They called it 'ethics in government,' people voted for it and it's nothing but a problem," Kester said. "I don't want something we can't live with, and this sounds like something we can't live with."

Filing an initiative with the state is the first of a number of steps before a measure actually makes it on the ballot.

If the backers successfully pass each step, voters in November 2008 would decide whether to create the department. If voters approve, the department would be in operation in 2010.

Doe previously worked as a water manager for the Department of the Interior. Hamilton is a microbiologist who once worked on water issues for the state.

"The people who are in the business of looking for how to develop Colorado don't always take care of public resources," Hamilton said.

He said some groups "want more and more and more water for more and more and more houses."

"Well, where are you going to get your water?"

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327