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• Board Meeting Date: 1/23/2008
• Description: Director's Report - CWCB Director
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

GOVERNOR BITTER APPOINTS DICK WOLFE AS NEW COLORADO STATE
ENGINEER: Governor Bill Ritter named Dick Wolfe as Colorado State Engineer.
Prior to this appointment, Wolfe had been serving as assistant state engineer in the Colorado Division of
Water Resources since 2005. He led the South Platte Task Force in examining water issues in the
Northeast Colorado Basin and made recommendations on possible solutions to the challenges facing the
state's water users.
At the Colorado Division of Water Resources, Wolfe served as a supervising engineer, a team leader, and
as chief of water supply.
TAMARISK CONTROL UPDATE: Separate items on this meeting's agenda will discuss the
proposed tamarisk control grant program and the seven basin states effort to specifically use tamarisk
control as a means of augmenting Colorado River water supplies. Staff has awarded four "mini-grants"
of $5000 each to assist local groups conducting on the ground tamarisk control programs from this year's
allocation of severance tax funds. The Tamarisk Coalition is providing planning and monitoring services
to local watershed groups with the $60,000 balance of those funds.
On January 11, 2008, Governor Ritter sent a letter endorsing the CHIP plan, as referenced in the
November Director's report. A copy of the plan is attached to the end of this report. Please see
Attachment 27d-5.
WATER CONSERVATION PLANS APPROVED: To date, the Office of Water Conservation &
Drought Planning (OWCDP) has approved three additional Water Conservation Plans from water
pr-ovider-s. They include:
• Aurora
East Larimer County Water District (ELCO)
Town of Firestone
In additions, the OWCDP has given Cherokee Metropolitan District a conditional approval after it
submitted an amended version of the Water Conservation Plan.
The OWCDP has determined the Plans to be in accordance with §37-60-126 C.R.S. and CWCB's
Guidelines for the Office to Review Water Conservation Plans Submitted by Covered Entities. Water
providers may proceed with implementation of their Plans.
The OWCDP has also received and is evaluating the following Water Conservation Plans: Colorado
Springs Utilities.
SUPREME COURT WATER COURT COMMITTEE: Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice
Mary Mullarkey has appointed a 21-member committee to study ways to streamline Colorado water
courts .
The committee, composed of water attorneys, engineers, judges and others involved in the water courts,
will report to Gov. Bill Ritter and the legislature on its findings.
The committee appointments follow a June report from the Denver University Water Futures Panel
encouraging the state to streamline its water courts. Three members of the Water Futures Panel, including
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