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<br />'" <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2. HOW MUCH VOICE WILL THE COUNCIL HAVE IN SELECTING THE BOARD <br />OF THE ANI~~S-LA PLATA WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT? <br /> <br />Colorado law provides that the District Judge shall appoint <br />a board of directors of not more than 15 persons. Unless <br />one assumes the judge to be biased and unfair, it would seem <br />reasonable that he will seek to appoint a balanced board <br />which adequately represents all water users involved in the <br />Animas-La Plata Project. The City Water Commission cannot <br />predict the makeup of the board, however, Judge Fred Emigh <br />is and always has been a fair person and the Water Commission <br />assumes that his decision on the makeup of the board will re- <br />flect this fairness. Although some people would like guaran- <br />tees, the law does not provide for this. Judge Emigh, it <br />should be noted, served as City Attorney for many years, <br />so it is obvious that he will be aware of and take into <br />account, the need and desirability of adequate, capable <br />representation for the City of Durango. It could reason- <br />ably be assumed that Judge Emigh will ask any citizen in- <br />cluding the City Council members to make recommendations <br />to him on the composition of the new water board. <br /> <br />3. WILL THE CITY COUNCIL NEGOTIATE THE CITY'S SHARE OF THE <br />ANIMAS-LA PLATA REPAYMENT CONTRACT WITH THE BUREAU OF <br />RECLAMATION OR WILL THAT NEGOTIATING BE DONE BY THE BOARD <br />OF THE ANIMAS-LA PLATA WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT? <br /> <br />For all practical purposes, the answer is yes. The board <br />of directors of the Animas.La Plata Water Conservancy Dis- <br />trict will negotiate with the Bureau of Reclamation and <br />will eventually execute the repayment contract with the <br />United States Government. However, under the water con- <br />servancy district law, the City Council must by ordinance <br />authorize the mayor to petition the board of directors of <br />the water conservancy district for an allocation of water <br />out of the water project. Attached is a copy of the sta- <br />tute for your information. Obviously, if the terms were <br />not satisfactory to the City Council, the council would not <br />adopt such an ordinance authorizing the mayor to sign a <br />contract and the City Council would not petition for any <br />allocation of water from the Animas-La Plata Project. The <br />City Council will certainly have the desires of its citizens <br />known to them prior to reaching this stage in the proceed- <br />ings, inasmuch as there will have to be an election on the <br />issue of the repayment contract which will take place prior <br />to the time the City Council will petition the board of <br />directors for an allocation of water. Therefore, the citi- <br />zens of Durango will have had an opportunity to vote on the <br />repayment contract prior to the City Council making their <br />decision on petitioning the board for an allocation of water <br />from the Animas-La Plata Project. <br /> <br />.5- <br />