BOARD00055 ‎(2)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 11/13/2006
• Description: IBCC Director's Report - Interbasin Compact Committee Annual Report to the House of Representatives Com. On Agriculture, Livestock, Natural Resources, and Senate Com. On Agriculture, Energy, Natural
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Section 1
Report from the Director of Compact Negotiations
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South Platte

. Colorado's most diverse and industrialized basi~.
Agriculture is still a dominant water use but rapid
changes are occurring and the impacts to rural
communities are a key concern.

. Competition for water is fierce and it is unclear how
much competition there is for the same water
supplies.

. Water reuse and conservation are major components
to meeting future water needs but this will put added
pressure on agriculture as return flows diminish.

. The urban landscape is very important to the
economy and an important component to quality of
life.

,
. Transfers of agricultural water rights to M&I use, will
continue to be a significant option for meeting future
needs.

Yampa/White/Green

. Emerging development of gas and oil shale resources
is impacting water needs both for the direct
production needs and the associated increase in
municipal use.

. Agriculture, tourism, and recreation are vital
components to this basin's economy.

. Industrial uses, especially power production, are a
major water use. Future energy development is,less
certain.

. While rapidly growing in some areas (Yampa
River/Steamboat area) the basin is not developing as
rapidly as other portions of the state. This has led to
concern that the basin will not get a "fair share" of
water use afforded to Colorado under the Colorado
River Compact.

. Implementation of a successful Endangered Species
Program is vital to ensuring protection of existing and
future water uses.

1.4 IBCC Formation

In addition to nine Basin Roundtables, the Act created
the IBCC, a 27-member committee established to
facilitate conversations between basins and to address
statewide issues. The IBCC is build out of the Basin
Roundtables and will bring the issues of each Basin
I
Roundtable to a statewide forum.

CDNI

1-8

1.4.1 IBCC Membership

IBCC membership includes:

. Two members appointed by each of the nine Basin
Roundtables;

. Six members appointed by the Governor, who must
come from "geographically diverse parts of the state"
and have expertise in environmental, recreational,
local governmental, industrial, and agricultural
matters;

. One member appointed by the chairperson of the
Senate Ag. Committee;

. One member appointed by the chairperson of the
House Ag. Committee; and

. The Director of Compact Negotiations, who serves as
the Chair of the IBCC.

1.4.2 IBCC Responsibilities

The Act gives the Interbasin Compact Committee a
series of responsibilities. These include establishing by-
laws, developing a charter, and creating a Public
Education and Outreach Working Group.

1.4.3 Establishment of the IBCC Charter
and Approval by the General
Assembly

The first major task undertaken by the IBCC was the
development of a Charter to "govern and guide all
negotiations between Basin Roundtables." Through an
iterative process between the DNR, the IBCC, and the
Basin Roundtables, the IBCC was able to agree on the
provisions of a Charter. On AprilS, 2006, the IBCC
adopted a Charter fulfilling its obligation in C.R.S. 37-75-
105. The IBCC referred the Interbasin Compact Charter
to the Colorado General Assembly on April 6, 2006, and
the Charter was approved through HB 06-1400.

The Charter is included in Appendix E and contains:

. The roles of the IBCC, including a directive to help
develop a common vision for statewide water
negotiations through the discussion and
dissemination of information to the Basin
Roundtables. The IBCC is also charged with
encouraging the development of a common technical
platform in order to guide the process of negotiating
Interbasin compacts;

S:\IBC SUPPORTIREPORT TO LEGISLATURElSECTION 1 FINAL.DOC