C.R.C.P. 26(a)(2) Disclosures of The CWCB, Case No. 02CW38

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• I. Introduction Pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement, the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District ( "UGRWCD ") and Gunnison County ( "County") are in the process of developing a whitewater course in the Gunnison River, immediately west of the City of Gunnison. The whitewater course is located a short distance upstream of the Tomichi Creek confluence, which is upstream of Blue Mesa Reservoir, and approximately 150 miles upstream from the Colorado state line. The UGRWCD filed an application for an in- channel diversion for recreational purposes in Case No. 02CW038, in the District Court for Water Division No. 4 in March 2002. Pursuant to Section 37 -92- 102(5) and (6) C.R.S (2001), the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) is required to submit recommendations and findings to the Water Court. In July the Water Court.granted the CWCB an extension of time, until October 11, 2002, to file the required recommendations and findings with the Water Court. A hearing was held before the CWCB on September 10, 2002 in Gunnison, Colorado and findings and recommendations subsequently submitted to the Water Court. The whitewater CO arS e as planned would consist of three or four drop structures and four to six deflectors over approximately one - quaver of a mile within the Gunnison River. The course is designed to concentrate and direct flows ranging from 250 to 2,000 cubic feet per second ( "c.f.s. "). The application in this case is for various flows between May 1 and September 30 of each year, with a claimed minimum flow of 270 c.f.s. and a • claimed maximum flow of 1,500 c.f.s. Daily operation of the water right would be y =^� limited to the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. during this period. �, The process for obtaining a Recreational In- Channel Diversion ( "RICD ") , L° water right is new and different from that for obtaining any other water right under ' C✓v Colorado Water Law, in that the CWCB is required to make certain findings and recommendations with respect to six factors identified in statute and submit those . findings to the Water Court. The Water Court is to consider these same six factors �' • and the findings and recommendations of the CWCB in order to award a water right ✓ - priority. In order to carryout its statutory charge, the CWCB has adopted Rules and . ( Regulations concerning RICD's. This report will address two of these findings: 1) C' • whether the adjudication and administration of the RICD will impair the ability of d 1 1 ; ( 611 Colorado to fully develop and place to, consumptive beneficial use its compact jY/ entitlements; 2) whether the adjudication and administration of the RICD will �" promote the maximum utilization of the waters of the State as referenced in C.R.S. § 37 -92 -102 (1)(a). This report is preliminary and a work in- progress. I reserve the right to modify and supplement these opinions as further information becomes known through discovery and the depositions of experts, and to express additional opinions in response to new information or opinions expressed by experts or other witnesses or evidence. • 2of17