Overview - Colorado Water for the 21st Century

• Title: Overview - Colorado Water for the 21st Century Act
• Date: 6/1/2006
• IBCC - Doc Type: Articles & Speeches

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office of

Interbasin Compact
Negotiations
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IBCC Responsibilities
The Colorado Water for the 21 st Century 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 (see Figure Two).

Figure Two: Interbasin Compact Committee's Initial Responsibilities
By-Imps - The IBCC has established by-laws to govern its operations and actions,
including a required provision addressing how roundtables that opt out of the process
may return to the process.

Charter - On April 5, 2006 the IBCC adopted a Charter to "govern and guide compact
negotiations between roundtables." The Charter was approved by the Colorado General
Assembly through HB06-1400. The Charter includes:
o 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 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.
o A framework and principles to guide negotiations between roundtables,
including policies to ensure that individual compacts do not conflict with one
another;
o Procedures for ratification of compacts, including a mandatory provision that
every affected roundtable must approve the draft compact;
o Authorities and procedures to ensure that approved compacts are legally
binding and enforceable; and
o Procedures for integrating the Interbasin Compact processes with other water
planning and development processes, except that no provision may supersede,
impair, or modify any local government's "authority, jurisdiction, or
permitting powers."

Public Education and Outreach - The IBCC, in accordance with the Colorado
Water for the 21 st Century Act, has developed a public education and outreach
working group. This group will create a process to inform, involve, and educate
the public on the IBCC's activities and progress of the interbasin compact
negotiations, and create a mechanism by which public input and feedback can be
relayed to the Interbasin Compact Committee and compact negotiators.

Criteria and Guidelines Pertaining to SB06-179- The Water Supply Reserve Account
created by SB06-179 provides $10 million annually for four years (total of $40 million)
to be invested in water activities. The IBCC is currently working closely with the Office

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Eric Hecox Office of Interbasin Compact Negotiations [phone] [e-mail]
1313 Sherman Street, Room 718 Denver, CO 80203