BOARD00059 ‎(3)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 1/23/2007
• Description: WSP Section - Litigation Account Status Report - Kansas v Colorado, Arkansas Basin Studies and Activities - Colorado River Activities
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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COLORADO RIVER LITIGATION

Attorney General Request:
Attorney General Ken Salazar, letter dated November 9,2005, requested $250,000, to "prepare to
adequately defend Colorado's allocations of the Colorado River in imminent litigation." More specifically,
the letter requested funds to accumulate a comprehensive archive and library of documents related to the
law of the river, create an imaging and indexing system to create a searchable database, and to pay for
equipment and/or travel costs associated with this potential litigation.

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Then in a letter dated March 9, 2006, the Attorney General requested the expenditure of up to $958,880
for continued efforts to prepare for potentia'llitigation involving the Colorado River. The funds were to be
used primarily for the establishment of a new line in the Natural Resources and Environment Section of
the Department of Law called the Defense of the Colorado River Compact and for continuing to develop
'ihe imaged, searchable database of documents related to the law of the river for use in potential litigation.

Colorado Water Conservation Board Action:
At its November 2005 regular meeting the Board reviewed the Attorney General's request and supporting
Inaterials provided by the CWCB staff. The Board "authorized an expenditure of up to $250,000" to fund
?ctivities associated with the "preparation for possible litigation and the defense and protection of
Colorado's allocation of water in the Colorado River."
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ft its March 2006 regular meeting the Attorney General lowered the request verbally, and the Board
authorized expenditure of funds of up to $760,000 for costs of litigation associated with the defense and
protection of Colorado's allocation of water in the Colorado River.
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Rroiect Status:
Subsequent to the request of the Attorney General, and the approval of the Board, the General Assembly
donfirmed the use of up to $758,880 in the long bill. Colorado has amended the contract with the historian
Jho has been working diligently to collect all of the relevant historical documents. In addition, the Office
of the Attorney General has hired three attorneys and one paralegal who have been providing legal
s~pport to the CWCB for its Colorado River interstate matters. Negotiations that may avert litigation are
01 going, but whether the negotiations will prove successful is uncertain.

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