IBCC Meeting Notes 10-18-06

• Title: Meeting Notes
• Date: 10/18/2006
• Interbasin CC - Doc Type: Meeting Notes

would have occurred without it being able to respond. There was a request that technical
data should be available to all parties before decisions are made.

Yampa Whi te Roundtable Presentation

Tom Sharp, Chairman and Board M ember of the Upper Yampa Roundtable , was the presenter
for this portion of the meeting. He noted that the creation of the Roundtable was a positive
action, and was characterized by good relations hips among parties. In its convening, Roundtable
members sought representatives of all interest groups in the basin. It has a Chair and two vice -
chairs to represent White & Yampa. The Roundtable meets quarterly in diverse locales in the
basin.

The fir st actions of the Roundtable have been primarily in the area of education, as many
members have not been heavily involved in water issues until now. Eric Kuhn and Rick Brown
have made presentations. Focus on the needs assessment beg a n in July .

I was note d that in the lower White, water will be needed for energy development. This situation
led to a decision by the Roundtable to seek early and timely funding for the needs assessment on
the relation between water and energy needs.

It was announced that the re would be a Yampa/White Roundtable meeting this evening, October
th
18 , in the same room as the IBCC meeting. There will be presentations on:

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Recreational/environmental interests — by Roundtable environmental and recreational
representatives
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Municipal int erests — a proposed reservoir for municipal use in South Routt Co (Morrison
Creek Reservoir)
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Agricultural interests — regarding needs in both basins

Other input and comments on the presentation:

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Members have not had to become adversarial or had much controve rsy. They have spent time
educating themselves on issues important to the basins.
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Dan Birch said that Roundtable members had seen themselves as the “valley too far” for
Front Range interests. However, yesterday at River District meeting it was noted that some
Front Range entities might be interested in Yampa/White water, and with the price of water
going up, pumping from the Western Slope might be financially feasible.
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Regarding channel diversion, how feasible is it on the White River?
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Lower White sees b asin tributaries south of the river as possible resources for storage of
water in connection with oil shale development. Energy companies tend to be closed -
mouthed about future energy plans and water needs. Data about those needs is hard to
obtain. The State is trying to improve access to data, but presentations that have been made
have not had concrete needs included.
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Eric Kuhn noted that oil shale and other energy companies have conditional water rights. It
is not clear whether this is appropriated or un - appropriated water?
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