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-24- Hendrick said the system could be a defense against drought for the state. "The Denver Basin is like Fort Knox during the drought," Hendrick said. "Bring the water. We'll fill it up " ,., ARKANSAS RIVER BASIN FRYINGPAN-ARKANSAS PROJECT LITIGATION: The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District has filed a lawsuit against the US Bureau of Reclamation. The lawsuit contends that Reclamation's 40-year contract with the City of Aurora allowing the City to store up to 10,000 acre- feet of water in Pueblo Reservoir violates the National Environmental Policy Act, ignores Reclamation policy, and that Reclamation had no authority to issue contracts to water users outside the Arkansas River Basin using Fryingpan-Arkansas facilities. A large number of major water users in the Arkansas River basin have been working on coordinated water development and operational plans for several years and this lawsuit may result in significant setbacks to those efforts. FOUNTAIN CREEK TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATE: The Fountain Creek Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) continues to meet on a monthly basis to address technical issues facing the watershed. This group is a parallel, but separate group, from the Fountain Creek Vision Task Force, whose mission is to prepare a comprehensive strategic plan for the Fountain Creek Watershed, which would incorporate and address all of the planning, scientific, and visioning documents, including those prepared by the TAC. The TAC's primary concerns continue to center around flood risk reduction, ecosystem restoration, and channel and streambank stability. The Corps of Engineers' Albuquerque District, in partnership with the TAC, has entered the Project Formulation and Evaluation stage, in which specific projects are identified and ranked according to a variety of factors. Currently 46 potential projects in the three main areas of concern (flood reduction, ecosystem restoration, and stability) have been identified with a goal of ranking these projects and identifying the top ten. The top ten projects will likely move forward once funding is secured in an effort at providing solutions to the problems facing the watershed in these three areas. Kevin Houck continues to represent the CWCB at the TAC meetings. ARKANSAS VALLEY CONDUIT: The Conduit Committee continues to meet regularly and is focusing on lobbying efforts to further legislation and appropriations, outreach efforts to participant governing bodies, water allocation for the conduit, and grant applications. Recent outreach meetings to touch base with and report on progress to 31 of the 41 participating entities went well. There has been no movement on the "stand-alone bill" to authorize the Conduit with an 80/20 cost sharing agreement between the Bureau of Reclamation and the local participants. The Bureau is currently considering a SECWCD proposal to use revenues from excess-capacity storage leases (If and When Storage) in Pueblo Reservoir, to pay off parts of the Fry-Ark project, including the Ark Valley Conduit. This may be holding up progress on the "stand-alone bill" as lease revenue details are worked out. Also, on September 24, 2007 the Senate passed (81-12) the $23 billion Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) including $79,000,000 for the Conduit through the Army Corps of Engineers. The bill was vetoed by President Bush and is awaiting an override vote in the Senate. A State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) through the EPA has passed in the Senate with $600,000, but received no funding in the House. Reconciliation on the funding is expected by December 2008. If this does not occur, the EPA could use its discretion in a continuing resolution to fund the grant. This funding requires a 45% local match, and at the March 2007 meeting, CWCB approved a SB-179 grant for $200,000 to be used for partial matching funds. The grant funds will be used to continue planning and complete the preliminary engineering studies and design. The State and SECWCD are currently negotiating terms for the grant contract. ARKANSAS `'ALLEY DRAINAGE: A study, approximately 90% complete, assesses the potential for drainage system rehabilitation projects and development of a plan for- improving subsurface drainage Flood Protection • Water Project Planning and Finance • Stream and Lake Protection Water Supply Protection • Conservation Plarming