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II II ,I I II . Ii Ii II . . Western States Water Council Water Resources Committee Minutes Sheridan, Wyoming October 5, 2006 APPROVAL OF MINUTES David Pope had some changes to the minutes from the meeting held in Breckenridge, Colorado. A motion to approve with editorial corrections was offered. There was a second. The minutes were approved. CORPS OF ENGINEERS' GRANT Mike Bratlien, Director of Programs for the Southwest Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, commented that the Corps has received a gtant for a Western Watersheds Study. The goal is to help the W'~stern Governors' Association and Western States Water Council implement its report on "Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future." Mike noted that the Corps was approached by several Council members following the Breckenridge meeting asking that the federal agencies deal more c10sely with the states. The Corps agrees and will try to figure out a smart way to accomplish this. We will discuss this over lunch. It is almost exc1usively issues within the Department ofInterior. Gene Lilly provided an update on the Corps' efforts. There were five national studies selected, inc1uding the Corps Western Watershed Study. They have received $750,000 initially to execute the study. Since that time, they have received another $65,000 from various sources. They are trying to leverage other Corps program funds. They are looking at the systemwide water resources program in the Corps. The $750,000 will address the tasks in the comprehensive WSWC/WGA scope of work that are assigned specifically to the Corps. There are two key goals: (1) to help out with selective tasks of the June 2006 report that was prepared by the Western States Water Council and released by the Western Governors' Association, entitled "Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future;:' and (2) they are mindful of the overarching goal that this is a bottom up initiative and that the Corps and federal agencies should support state and local initiatives. They will be touc:hing on three general categories within the June 2006 report: (a) state water and data-related needs and strategies to meet future demands; (b) water infrastructure needs and promising strategies to meet them; and (c) climate change. The Corps will do their best to.be a support agency. They will be working together with the Department of Interior. Questions and Answers Tom Maddock: "Has there had been any attempt to put a dollar amount to specific tasks, and set priorities?" Gene Lilly responded that there is $750,000 to address only for those tasks assigned to the Corps, within comprehensive scope of work. Weir Labatt: "Does part of the budget go to federal coordination?" Mike Bratlien: "We're going to kick that around during lunch. In the last 3 years, there have been a lot of agr,~ements to work together. The more we link up, the more we can get done." 3.