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The General Assembly further declared that "to promote the health and general welfare of the <br />state of Colorado, an appropriate agency for the conservation, use, and development of the water <br />resources of the San Juan and Dolores rivers and their principal tributaries should be established <br />and given such powers as may be necessary to safeguard for Colorado, all waters to which the <br />state of Colorado is equitably entitled." § 37-47-101, 10 C.R.S. (2003). The Southwestern <br />District has the authority, among other powers, "to perform all acts and things necessary or <br />advisable to secure and insure an adequate supply of water, present and future; for irrigation, <br />mining, manufacturing, and domestic purposes within [the] district[]." § 37-47-107(1)(c), 10 <br />C.R.S. (2003). The Southwestern District is one of the sponsors of various U.S. Bureau of <br />Reclamation projects, including the Dolores and the Animas-La Plata Projects which permit <br />Colorado to enjoy the beneficial use of its compact-apportioned share of the Colorado River. <br />See, e.g., Animas-La Plata Project Compact, codified at § 37-64-101, 10 C.R.S. (2003). In <br />accordance with its statutory powers, the Southwestem District seeks to safeguard for Colorado <br />the waters of the San Juan and Dolores rivers and their tributaries in Southwest Colorado to <br />which the state of Colorado is equitably entitled. <br />3. The City and County of Denver, actin; by and through its Board of Water <br />Commissioners ("Water Board") is a municipal corporation and political subdivision of the State <br />of Colorado, created in 1918 by an amendment to the charter of the City and County of Denver. <br />The Water Board has all the powers "granted by the Constitution and by the law of the State of <br />Colorado...in regard to...operating a water works system...." Denver Charter, Article X. The <br />Water Board is authorized to operate a water works system, both inside and outside Denver, by <br />Section 1 of Article XX of the Colorado Constitution and by C.R.S. 31-35-402(1)(b). See <br />Bennett Bear CreekFarm Water & Sanitation Dist. v. Denver, 928 P.2d 1254 (Colo. 1996). The <br />4