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e. Grandfather wel{s drilled prior to a certain date (e.g., "1969 Act") <br />• This would set back water law and violate the principles of equal <br />protection. These same arguments were made during the discussions on <br />the 1969 Act and were not found acceptable by the senior surFace water <br />rights and the Legislature. <br />f. Revisit with Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and other <br />affected stakeholders the use of Colorado-Big Thompson Project water as a permanent <br />augmentation source (currently prohibited by policy adopted by Northern Board of <br />Directors) <br />Northern's long-standing prohibition on using C-BT units for replacement <br />in permanent (court decreed) augmentation plans is based on the 1938 <br />"Repayment Contract" between Northern and the United States. This <br />document reserves any return flows from first use of C-BT, for subsequent <br />use by others in the District in accordance with their priorities. Because <br />augmentation use is typically 100% consumptive, this would deprive the <br />District of the historical return flows. In addition, if irrigation wells are <br />permitted to use C-BT water for replacement, it must be assumed that the <br />many municipal owners of C-BT water would seek to do the same. <br />• Propose option that only allows a 70% credit for water purchased or <br />leased and remaining 30% would remain as return flow to mimic historical <br />irrigation practice. <br />g. Division 2 options-allow post-pumping depletions to be covered by <br />financial warranties. <br />h. Make a portion of savings from removal of phreatophytes available to <br />the remover (requires statutory change) <br />i. Encourage and help the lower reaches of the South Platte River to <br />develop water districts and/or water authorities so that the water users can be <br />competitive in attempting to purchase augmentation water supplies. <br />• The Legislature established River Basin Authority Act in 1969 to allow for <br />the ability to address basin wide issues such as well pumping <br />augmentation. This Act was never utilized and was repealed in the <br />1990's. There are four water conservancy districts in the South Platte <br />River Basin downstream of Denver. These districts however do not <br />include the area around Wiggins and it is possible that the citizens could <br />establish a district pursuant to the Conservancy District Act. <br />• The engineering solution would involve the well owners establishing an <br />organ ization/d istrict to collect funds and engage consultants to prepare a <br />plan for augmentation. The funds would pay for the costs of acquiring <br />4