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Conservancy District ("Applicant"), Greg Peterson, a board member of Applicant, Mark <br />Schumacher, a past board member of the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy <br />- District and owner and operator of Three Rivers Resort which is in the whitewater <br />business, Dr. Mark Gibson, a professor at Western State College in the outdoor <br />recreation department, James Slattery, a civil engineer in the firm of Helton & <br />Williamson as an expert, Gary Lacy, a civil engineer who designed the Gunnison <br />Whitewater Park as an expert, Jim Lochhead an attorney who testified as an expert on <br />various issues related to water law, Ted Kowalski, staff member of the Colorado Water <br />Conservation Board who also testified as an expert with respect to policies and <br />procedures of the board and other issues, Randy Seaholm, an employee of the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board and chief of the water supply protection section <br />who testified as an expert and agent of the CWCB, Richard McLaughlin, civil engineer <br />who testified as an expert on water resources and water park design. <br />This proceeding is the first application to be addressed by a Water Court under <br />legislation enacted in 2001 establishing a specific procedure for "recreational in channel <br />diversions" and restricting who can make such an application. Senate Bill 216. <br />Recreational in channel diversions, as the name suggests, differ from "traditional" water <br />rights which contemplate a diversion out of a stream to its place of use for some specific <br />purpose, whether agricultural, mining, domestic or municipal, among others. This <br />application contemplates a whitewater park for kayaking, rafting and canoeing, without <br />diverting any water from the Gunnison River. The contested issues before the Court <br />involve interpretation and application of this new legislation to this proposed use. Under <br />2