Laserfiche WebLink
<br />1. Clinton Reservoir Company <br />2. Eagle Reservoir Company <br />3. Grand Valley W ater Users Association <br />4. Orchard Mesa Irrigation District <br />5. Ute Water Conservancy District <br />6. Middle Park Water Conservancy District <br />7. Summit County <br />8. Eagle County <br />9. Grand County <br /> <br />c. A question and answer session was held with Chips Bany, head of Denver Water, and former <br />head of the Department of Natural Resources under Governor Richard Lamm, and Eric <br />Kuhn, engineer with the CRWCD. <br /> <br />Shoshone Call. When Louis Meyer mentioned that the public had been shut out of the <br />Shoshone call negotiations, Chips Barry said, "Water is a private property right and there was no <br />requirement to invite the public into the negotiations. The Shoshone Call was a non- <br />consumptive use and there was no requirement to talk to the public about it. Everyone on the <br />Western Slope knew about the Shoshone call negotiations 18 months ahead of time but they <br />declined to participate in the negotiations. Denver used the leverage it had in the Franchise <br />Agreement with Xce1 Energy to reach agreement." <br /> <br />Litigation will not work. Eric Kuhn said, "While the Colorado River Water Conservation <br />District's position differed with Denver Water's on the Shoshone Call, we agree that water is a <br />private property right. For the Colorado Basin Process to succeed, there must be buy-in by all <br />parties at an acceptable level. You can't force a major public process on a public that does not <br />want it, as 2-Forks demonstrated. Doing nothing, the "no action alternative", will not work in <br />Summit, Eagle, or Grand Counties. The solutions to Denver Water's water firming goals are <br />either mediation or litigation. Litigation generally does not work because disgruntled parties <br />endlessly appeal decisions they do not agree with." <br /> <br />10825 Water negotiations are open. Phil Overeynder commended the current 10825 Water <br />negotiations for their openness, and suggested that the Colorado Basin Process be similarly open. <br />Chips Barry cautioned, "When you invite the public, you have to be careful what you ask for. <br />The public does not need to be involved in every discussion about a water right, and it should not <br />be. There's a downside to inviting the public to talk. You can't negotiate with the public on big <br />issues. What if Highlands Ranch ran out of water? Would you want 200,000 people in a public <br />process?" <br /> <br />Global warming. Rachel Richards, Pitkin County Commissioner, commented that global <br />warming may cause the future to look very different from the past, and questioned whether GW <br />was being considered in the Colorado Basin Process. Chips Barry responded, "No one knows <br />what GW will do. We've seen some diminished flow, but we don't know ifthis is a permanent <br />change. Once you lose faith that the future will be like the past, you get into trouble. A solution <br />to GW concerns is to build more storage. In times of plenty, you offset the drought cycle with <br />more storage." EK mentioned that GW is a major change, and he encouraged the CBRT and the <br />other Western Slope roundtables to spend more time on this issue. <br /> <br />Target the rivers you want to save. Chips Barry commented, "Whenever the Eastern Slope <br />talks about diverting water, the Western Slope responds that it needs to keep that water in the <br /> <br />L\CWCB Imaging\Caleb\Minutes\Colorado\2007\Minutes Feb 2007 CBRT.doc <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />7/l< <br />