Elkhead Reservoir Final Acquisition Agreement

Home Browse Search

wREREAS, the Board is a state agency created For the purpose of aiding-in the protection and development of the waters of the state for the benefit of the state's present and future inhabitants, (S 3?-60-102, C.R.S.); and - wREREAS, it is the duty of the Board to promote the conservation of the waters of the state in order to secure the greatest utilization of such waters and the utmost prevention of floods, which includes the power and the duty to: cooperate with the United States and its agen- cies-for the-purpose of bringing about the greater utilization of the waters of the state; investigate and assist in formulating a response to the plans, purposes, procedures, requirements, laws, proposed laws, or other activities of the federal government which affect or might affect the use or-development of the water resources of the state; confer with and appear before the officers, representatives, boards, bureaus, committees, commissions, or other agencies of the federal government for the purpose of protecting and asserting the authority, interests, and rights of the State of f:olorado and its citizens with respect to the waters of the interstate streams in the state; and in, general, take such action and have such powers as are incidental to the foregoing specific provisions and to the gener-al purposes of the statute (§ 37-60-106, C.R.S.); and W~iEREAS, the Board is vested with the exclusive authority to ap- propriate and acqui-re such waters of natural streams and lakes-as the Board determines may be required -for rninimun~ stream flows or for natu- ral surface water levels or volumes-for natural lakes to preserve the natural environment to~a reasonable degree pursuant to ~ 3?-92--1023), C.R.S.; and - - WHEREAS, consultations under section ? of the.Endangered~ Species Act had found that new water projects in the Upper Colorado River Bas- in would likely jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered Fish species, so that the protection of the endangered fish threatened to embroil all interested parties in a confrontation between resource protection and resource development; and - WHEREAS, the states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah; the Service; the U,S. Bureau of Reclamation; the western Area Power Administration; water resource development organizations; and environmental organiza- tions developed and agreed to the Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Hasin {Implementation Program); and WHEREAS, the purpose of the Implementation Progra~a is"to recover the endangered fish while providing for water development to continue and proceed in the Ugger Colorado River Basin in accordance with interstate compacts and federal and state law; and- -2-