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<br />"Farewell Chuck"
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<br />Common sense;' creativity made Lile a'successful problem-$olver for CWCS <>/
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<br />Daries tharle~/"Chuck';- '"" '. /', Chuckalso improved the CWCB loa~ program through develop-
<br />, Lile is Colorado from ' rrient of s~veral new accounts such as the emergency infTastructure
<br />. ~ tire tip of his cowboy,. repair"small projects, fish and ~ildlife resQ,imes, severance tax trust
<br />,/ hat to the soles of his cowboy fund,perpetu91 base, seve,rance tax, trust fund operational, al)d the
<br />boots. He t~lks Colorado, he Horse Creek basin augmentation. Chuck also spearheaded the
<br />walks Colorado and he proba- Colorado River Recovery ProgramLoanAccount in the 1998/ '
<br />bly bleeds Colorado water. I Construction. Fund Bill. T~is program proyidesfor the construction
<br />c, July is an important ,- or improvement of water-related projec!s to facilitate the recovery of
<br />month in Chuck's life. Chuck four endangereq fish species in t~e Colorado and S'anJuan rivers.
<br />was born on July 17, 1944, in ~The Construction Flmd Lo~n Program experienced renewed
<br />Pueblo County, the youngest, vitality during qlUck's !erm. From 1992 through 1998, the .'
<br />of seVen children, attended Legislat,uie approved almost lo'O.!oans for water projects totaling
<br />Pueblo COI.~nfy Schools, and' . more than $80 million. Other programs Chuck took die leadiI'l es~ab-
<br />,received his B.S. in geological,;' lishing under the loan program include the Colorado River Decision
<br />engineering from ~o,uthern Color~do State College (now the Support System, Rio Grande Decision Support System, and' Native
<br />University ofSouth~rn Colorado) in 1967)-i:e began his water -'Aquatic Species Facility. He was also in'strumental in gaining legisla-'
<br />/ _ resources career in July 1967 at the State ~ngineer's Office (SEa)" , tive authorization to use, 5 pe~cent of the Const~ction Fund for flood
<br />where he workedJor 25 years, and concluded his official c~reer ~n July- control projects. In addition;' Chuck,worked closely with the state
<br />199~, after serving nearly six years as t~edirector'ofthe Colorado \ el1gineer to obtain funding for a study ofh!gh~altitude'E.recipitation
<br />Water CQnservation Board. In July, he returned with his wife of 31 imp-acting dam spillway design; for maintenance of a satellite moni-
<br />years, Leesa, and their daughter! Carrie, to his ranch outside of, _ toring system for real time streamflow data, and for,the development
<br />durango, where Chuck and Leesa also raised two boys, Chip and 0['3 river basin water rights management system.
<br />Chris. , . / \ . While Chuck has spent his entire'professional caieer working ,
<br />Chuck spent14 years of his 25-year service with theSEO as the' ' for state water users, he always felt it is'as important to participate in
<br />division engineer in Durango; wh~rehe w~s instrumental in negotiat- his c9rnmunity by helping, those with whom he shares his life. Thi~
<br />,ing the Indian Reserved Water Rights settlement. His support for. the philosophy has kep! himvery involved in community projects - par- /
<br />settlement ~ and the Animas-La Plat~ Project, which is ;m i~tegral' ticipating in such org'anizations as the rotary club, running clubs,
<br />part ot the settlement - continued thr:oughout his career and even school boards; church groups, and youth sports. As a Rotarian,in
<br />now; into hinetirement. " 'r ~teilmboatSprings, he helped sponsor the First International Win!er
<br />During Chuck's tenure as the director/the CWCB benefited Spegal Olympics. In Durango, he helped the rotary club raise
<br />greatly from his insight and leadership. Chuck served on several state enougl},money to immun,ize more than 50,000 ch,ildren through the ,
<br />and interstate organizations, including the Arkansas River Compact "Polio 2005 Program." Chuck and his family also have been involved
<br />Adininistr<!tion, the Upper Colorado River Compact COI11~ission with the rotary international stiloent exchange program. .'
<br />-<Alternate Commissione~), West~rn States Water Council, Colorado . ,Chuck spends his spare time farming, taking horsebac~ pack
<br />River Salinity Control ~~Hum, and the Colorado Groundwater trips, elk hunting andfishingat Lake Powell. In Durango; Chuck is
<br />Commis~ion. He also served as an ex-officio member and secretary of. also known,as the Electric Horseman-for riding his horse in a ligh~d
<br />the (:WCB. ' entryin the nighttime "Snowdown Parade" for sev~~al years.
<br />, Chuck will be remembered as aremarkable comlJ1ur:!icator -, Chuck became knowledgeable about water from the ground up,
<br />, negotiatil1gQngoing issues, from flood protection to instream flowS'to ' learning to irrigate on his family farm while growing up in Pueblo.
<br />con.struction fund to int~rstate compacts. He brought together par- From a sho~el, to ahydr9graphei's flow me~er, to officiaJ.testimony in
<br />ties who ~ere far apart philosoph really and helped them reach cqn- W:ashington, D.C., Chuck has worked in water venues,all of his li~e,. .
<br />..sensus. Hegained the trust and sUPP,9~t of the legislators who were . I His management philosophy was to approach problems 9Y ,
<br />instrumental in Chuck's many accomplishments at the CWCB. ~defining what is important as opposed to what can be compromised.
<br />, In response to Kansas' suit against Colorado claimingfailure to , His successfu} problem-solving ability lies in his common~ense
<br />deliver water to the stateline in accordance ,with the Arkansas River approach coupleq, with creative and resourceful solutions. He has the
<br />Compact; Chuck helped org~,l1ize and co-chair the Arkansas ~iver . respect of those with whom he wo~ked, including those.with differing
<br />.' Coordinating Committee. This committee undertook the task of edu- opinionS'and philosophies.
<br />cating localf water users about the terms and conditions of the . The staff at the CWCB wish Chuck a happy and fulfilling retire-
<br />Arkansas ,River Compact. Furthermore, Chuck was instrumental in ment. We, all love him', for he brought out the oe'st in all of us. Best .\
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<br />\ '. ,the development of the Arkansas Ri\:erAugm~ntation LoanAccount.- wishes.. /
<br />This loan account provide~ loans to local water users to purc~ase aug-
<br />mentation water ,to repla~e their o~t-~f-priority depletions in a~cor- "
<br />~ ;-dance with the terms of t~~ Arkansas River, Compact~
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<br />Editor's Note: Thanks to Leesa Lile,.Jennifer Gimbel, and
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<br />Jan lIIian.for contributing to this article.
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