WSP12258

• File Number: 8021
• Description: Section D General Correspondence - Western States Water Council
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 1/7/1994
• Author: Western States Water
• Title: Western States Water 1994 - Issues 1025-1076
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

any of the above topics or other reiated areas of
interest. Presentation proposals should be submitted
by February 1 to Garry Nielsen, Information
Management Systems Division, P.O. Box 251 02, Santa
Fe, New Mexico 87504-5102; [phone] or fax
[phone]. A final agenda and further details will
be available in mid-February.

WATER RIGHTSIWATER RESOURCES

ArizonaJWater Transfers

A "gentlemen's agreement" has been reached that
will allow the transfer of Central Arizona Project (CAP)
subcontract water from the town of Payson to the city
of Scottsdale. After the proposed transfer agreement
had been reached, the Bureau of Reclamation
asserted that 7%% of the money paid from Scottsdale
to Payson must be placed in an environmental trust
fund before Reclamation would approve the transfer.
The fund would have been expended under broad
authority at the discretion of the Reclamation
commissioner. Arizona officials and others objected in
"the strongest possible terms" to this arrangement,
based on legal and policy considerations related to
Reclamation's assertions ryvSW #1019),

Under the agreement reached recently, 7%% of the
funds Payson receives will be spent on environmental
projects in the Payson area. These projects were
planned before the transfer was approved. The
expenditures will be made based on Payson's good
will, and not because of any legal requirement. The
arrangement will not be recognized as establishing a
precedent for other transfers.

Hawaii

Pursuant to the 1987 law establishing the Hawaii
water code, a commission was created to perform a
comprehensive review of the code and develop
recommendations for its improvement. The seven
member revieW commission, which was appointed by .
legislative leaders, has organized 27 meetings since
November, 1992 and sponsored a series of 12 well-
attended public information meetings throughout the
state. In addition to public input, the commission has
received input from federal, state, and county officials
responsible for water resource management in HawaiI.
The commission has compiled an extensive mailing
list and established depositories for its documents

and other information on all of the state's major
islands.

.

The review commission has identified 20 major
issues including the purpose of the state water code,
water quality/quantity integration, watershed
management/surface water relationships, protection of
Native Hawaiian water rights, and the effects of out-of-
watershed transfers. These issues will serve as the
focus for its deliberations in 1994. The commission
published an interim report of its activities In
December, 1993. It will complete a draft of its
recommendations for improving the state water code
by early summer, The draft recommendations will be
made available to the public as an insert in a daily
newspaper with statewide circulation. Subsequently,
the Commission will conduct public hearings
throughout the state on the draft, The Commission
plans to submit its final report to the legislature by the
end of this year, and will testify on its
recommendations during the 1995 legislative session.

MEETINGS

The Twelfth Annual Water Law Conference
sponsored by the American Bar Association's Section
of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law
in cooperation with the Western States Water Council
and the Conference of Western Attorneys General will
be held February 10-11, 1994 in San Diego at the
Sheraton Grande on Harbor Island, Call WSWC at
[phone] for the symposium brochure,

.

The First Annual Symposium on Reserved Water
Rights and Water-Related Issues sponsored by the
Mni-Sose Intertribal Water Rights Coalition will be held
January 26-28 at the Ramada Hotel Classic in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. Call MSIWRC at (605) 343-
6054 for information.

The Interstate Council on Water Policy's 1994
Washington, D.C. Roundtable will be held March 8-10
at the Bellevue Hotel. Call1CWP at [phone] for
information.

The National Water Resources Association 1994
Federal Water Seminar - .Water Policy and the Clinton
Administration" will be held March 23-25 at the
Washington Court Hotel in Washington, D.C. Call
NWRA at [phone] for information.

.

The WESTERN STATES WATER COUNCIL is an organization of representatives appointed by the Governors of
member states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon,
South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, and associate member states Montana and Oklahoma