11 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

STATE OF COLORADO Colorado Water Conservation Board Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman Street, Room 721 Denwr, Colorado 80203 Phone: (303) 866-3-Wl FAX: (303) 866--W7-l \\ ,\ ". .cwcb .sta te .co. us MEMORANDUM Bill Ritter, Jr. Governor TO: Colorado Water Conservation Board Members Hanis D. Sherman Executive Director FROM: Randy Seaholm, Chief Water Supply Protection Section Rod Kuharich CWCB Director DATE: September 9, 2007 Dan McAuliffe Deputy Director SUBJECT: Agenda Item 11, September 18-19,2007 Board Meeting Water Supply Protection, Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Support Back2round This matter was previously discussed with the Board at its May 2007 meeting. Briefly restating some of the background; in April 2005, the Navajo Nation and the State of New Mexico signed a settlement agreement that would resolve the tribe's federal reserved water right claims in the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico. In April 2007 the New Mexico delegation proposed federal legislation, which it subsequently introduced in Congress, concerning the "Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act" that would, among other things, ratify the Navajo Settlement and authorize the constmction of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project (NGWSP) (See S-4l08, previous versions were proposed in the 11 Oth Congress, 1 st Session as S- 1171 andHR-1970). Prior to the introduction of the proposed legislation, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation conducted the "Hydrologic Determination" required by law to determine if sufficient water remained under the Upper Basin apportionment to develop the project. During the conduct of the Hydrologic Determination, the Southwestern Water Conservation District of Colorado (SWWCD) expressed concerns about the impact of increased uses in New Mexico on water use and development in Colorado. As a result, the CWCB in agreeing to support the Hydrologic Determination in May 2006 recommended that certain conditions requested by the SWWCD be addressed or incorporated into any legislation that was ultimately passed approving the Navajo Settlement and resulting in the constmction of the NGWSP. Related Upper Colorado River Commission lUCRC) Actions The UCRC has passed two resolutions that helped advance approval of the Navajo Settlement and the constmction of the NGWSP. First, the UCRC passed a resolution in June 2003 establishing a process for the approval of projects that would divert water from the Upper Colorado River Basin for use in the Lower Colorado River Basin. The substance of the resolution was that water divelied from the Upper Basin would be accounted for as part of that state's Upper Basin apportionment.