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<br />Existing Water Management/Conservation Measures <br /> <br />State Water Laws, State Administration of Water Resources- <br /> <br />Two agencies under the Colorado Department of Natural Resources are responsible for <br />protecting and preserving Colorado's water resources. One of those agencies is the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) , and the other is the Division of Water <br />Resources/Office of the State Engineer (SEO). The CWCB is responsible for the state's <br />instream flow program, various water construction loans, flood control and flood plain <br />management, interstate compact issues, and water conservation. The Division of Water <br />Resources is responsible for administration of the water rights of the state based on the <br />prior appropriation doctrine. It is also responsible for administration of interstate <br />compacts, ground water well permitting and dam safety. <br /> <br />On June 4, 1991 the Colorado General Assembly enacted, the "Water Conservation Act <br />of 1991" (copy attached to this report). The Act, created The Office of Water <br />Conservation under the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The Office of Water <br />Conservation promotes water use efficiency by acting as a repository for water use <br />efficiency information, providing technical assistance to water users, and administers <br />financial assistance for water use efficiency measures and water use efficiency programs. <br />The act also requires each publicly owned entity which provides water to domestic, <br />commercial, industrial, or public facility customers, and which has a total demand of two <br />thousand acre-feet or more to submit water use efficiency plans within five years of the <br />effective date of the act. (State Office of Water Conservation - Water Conservation Plans <br />"Criteria for Acceptance" copy attached to this report). <br /> <br />On April 5, 1990 the Colorado General Assembly enacted the "Water Metering Act" <br />(copy attached to this report). The Act requires any water service supplier for human <br />consumption, which has at least six hundred unmetered taps, to provide metered water <br />delivery and billing service to its customers according to the following schedule: meters <br />shall be installed at the time of construction for all new construction, fifty percent of <br />unmetered taps on or before January 1, 2000, fifty percent of remaining unmetered taps <br />on or before January 1,2005, and on all remaining unmetered taps on or before January I, <br />2009. <br /> <br />The State Engineer for the State of Colorado receives authority for administering the <br />waters ofthe state by statute. See sections 37-80-101 to 37-80-111, and 37-92-301 C.R.S. <br />(1973 & 1988 Supplemental) The State Engineer, Division Engineers and staff (The <br />Arkansas River Basin is Division No.2), are responsible for the administration and <br />distribution of the state's waters. <br /> <br />The use of water in Colorado is governed by what is known as the prior appropriation <br />system. This system of water allocation controls who uses how much water, the types of <br />