2-07 House Committee Lay Over Unamended

• Title: 2-07 House Committee Lay Over Unamended
• IBCC - Doc Type: Legislation

2-07 House Committee Lay Over Unamended

Page 14 of 49

Madam Chair:

Russell George:

Madam Chair:

Peter Nichols:

you work your way towards the conclusion. That's really tme in
this case. But we're not trying to predict the outcome, but by the
time we get to the outcome when we've had successful negotiated
efforts, then we take a look at it and say what are the correct legal
tools to accomplish the goals that are set fOlih in this agreement.

This is no different than things today. We have constmction
contracts negotiator. We have memorandum of understanding
created among governments and between governments and private
entities as a common localized effort. These are protected by the
common law and by the statutory law of contracts. In many cases
this may be enough and the enforceability is based upon contract
law.

Here's what I've promised to do and here's what you've promised
to do and we enforce it and perform. That may be where we are
then. It may not be necessary to bring some or all of this to
legislature. Mayor may not be appropriate to take something to
the people for ratification in the vote. I don't know that we have to
know that or decide that at this point. These are tools and
opportunities to try to gain some predictability over time, but that's
all.

Any other questions from the committee? Thank you, Director
George. I appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

Peter Nichols, would you like to join us again?

Madam Chairwoman, members of the committee, it's a pleasure to
be here. I'm still Peter Nichols. I'm still a water attorney. I still
work for Trout, Wittwer and Freeman and I still represent the
lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District.

I'd like to sOli of _ and to give you a view from 30,000 feet if
I could. I've been thinking about water issues and water and
growth issues actually since I was staffed to this committee very
early in my career. I've been studying it intensively for the past
six years. I'm the principle author of Water and Growth in
Colorado and subsequent studies that looked exhaustively at what
was happening in the state in regard of how we were dealing with
our water and growth issues.

The remarkable thing about these studies is not what they showed,
but that the issues haven't changed in 50 years. One could take

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Page 14 of 49