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<br />KEYNOTE ADDRESS <br />James S. Lochhead. Executive Director <br />Colorado Department of Natural Resources <br /> <br />.. I really appreciate the opportunity to be with you because I think that this last year has been a year of tremendous activity <br />and really significant progress in the Arkansas basin. At the beginning of this new year we have an opportunity to <br />reflect on what we have achieved and look forward to the next year and to what's ahead of us. <br /> <br />I want to congratulate those of you in the basin for what I believe has been enormous progress in dealing with a lot of <br />difficult issues in the basin. At the same time. we need to build on that progress and remain focused on the task at band. <br />remain committed to our goals and moving forward. You have heard and will hear today and tomorrow 'about many <br />on-going activities. including the status of the ~ vs. Colorado litigation. the progress on rules and regulations by <br />the state engineer. our efforts to achieve a new state park in Southeastern Colorado and the Smart Growth Initiative that <br />we've all been working on over the last year. And I want to touch on each of those issues. but first rd like to set the stage <br />a little bit and look at what we've done over the past year. <br /> <br />Fll'St. in the area of water. in August. 1994 the Governor established by executive order the Arkansas River Coordinating <br />Committee. The premise of that committee was that the best way to resolve problems and issues is in an open and <br />thorough atmosphere of communication and collaboration, We wanted broad representation from both the upper and <br />lower basins. from both grOlmd water users and surface water users. and from both agriculture and municipal users. 1be <br />purposes of the committee were to advise and coordinate with the state engineer's office on the development and <br />implementation of rules in the administration of ground water in the basin. to provide recommendations to the state on an <br />appropriate remedy for past depletions to useable state line flows in the event that U.S. Supreme Court found liability for <br />Colorado (and of course. the court did find such liability). and to recommend and suppon the efforts of the Department <br />of Natural Resources. the Division of WIldlife. and Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation in our efforts to <br />accomplish water. wildlife and recreational objectives at Trinidad Reservoir. and Great Plains Reservoir in particular. <br /> <br />Over the last year. the ARRC has had numerous meetings and discussions on the issues put to it by the Governor. I want <br />to recognize the time and outstanding effon that was put into this committee by its co-chairs Chuck Lile. Director of the <br />Water Conservation Board. and Hal Simpson. the State Engineer. In August. the ARRC made a repon of its <br />recommendations. Although there are disagreements and there are many issues that still need to be resolved. I believe <br />that the repon demonstrates an unprecedented level of communication. coordination and consensus among the many <br />diverse issues in the Basin on many difficult and controversial issues, The repon recognizes that there is a need for the <br />Arkansas Basin to pull together to deal with those issues. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />In summary. the repon made recommendations in the areas of recreation. water acquisition and augmentation. Those <br />recommendations will be important to the state as we continue to move forward to resolve these issues. As you know. <br />the Supreme Court dismissed two of the three claims that Kansas brought against Colorado. but held that Colorado does <br />have liability to Kansas for the depletion of usable state line flows as a result of post-compact well depletions. Colorado <br />has been aggressively and well represented in this litigation. When trial began in 1990. the Kansas claims totaled in <br />excess of one and a half million acre-feet for the period of 1950-1985. Through the process of trial that claim was <br />reduced. and recently Kansas and Colorado entered into a stipulation that puts the total liability for post-compact well <br />depletion for that period at about 328.000 acre-feeL I applaud the fact that the attorneys representing both states were <br />able to reach this agreemenL Colorado has. throughout this litigation. been willing and anxious to reach agreement and <br />settlement of the claims by our neighbors in Kansas. and we remain willing to sit down with Kansas officials and <br />negotiate a reasonable settlemenL I also want to emphasize that the Special Master fully expects that Colorado will <br />aggressively pursue the implementation and enforcement of rules to assure future compliance with the ruling of the <br />Supreme Court. The Master denied a Kansas motion to limit pumping in Colorado to 1.500 acre-feet a year but at the <br />same time emphasized that the Supreme Court may order steps if we don't make adequate progress. He stated. and I <br />want to quote from his ruling because I think it is important, that nColorado recognizes that I may recommend and the <br /> <br />Arkansas River Basin Water Forum <br /> <br />3 <br /> <br />itA River of Dreams and Realities" <br /> <br />