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

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• Given the above, it is then appropriate to first consider the uses of water that will not be affected by the proposed RICD water right. In my opinion, the proposed RICD water right will not affect the following uses of water in Colorado, except as • noted. 4.1.1 Water rights in other basins. The proposed RICD water right will not affect the use of native water under any water right located in any drainage basin in . Colorado other than in the Gunnison River basin or the mainstem Colorado River Basin below its confluence with the Gunnison River, except to the extent that such uses and water rights, when short, could be supplemented by water imported via a transmountain diversion from the Gunnison Basin. Transmountain diversions from the headwaters of the Gunnison Basin to the Arkansas and South Platte River Basins have been proposed and studied in the past and will likely continue to be investigated in the future. The Union Park Project and variations thereof have been proposed by Arapahoe County and the City of Aurora. In addition, the Colorado Water and Power Development Authority study of the Gunnison Basin also proposed a project that would transfer the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association uses of Taylor Park Reservoir to Blue Mesa Reservoir and allow Taylor Park Reservoir and a portion of the water stored therein to be used for a transmouritain diversion. While there are many institutional issues associated with such a project to be addressed, in my opinion, it is not appropriate for an RICD water right to foreclose such an option given the water shortages experienced along the front range of Colorado during the 2002 drought. This option and others are likely to receive further study during the current "Statewide Water Supply Investigation" (SWSI) that the legislature has instructed the CWCB to undertake. Except as noted, the proposed RICD water right, because it would not divert and control water from any other river basin except the Gunnison Basin above the • Tomichi Creek confluence, it can not impact water rights in other river basins. Likewise, the proposed RICD water right would not affect the use of water under any water right located infamy other drainage basin within the Colorado River Basin to which the Gunnison River is not tributary, such as the San Juan Basin, the White River Basin, or the Yampa River Basin. Additionally, the proposed RICD water right would not affect the use of water under any water right located in the mainstem of the Colorado River Basin in Colorado upstream from the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers. The proposed RICD water right, because it would only call for water from the drainage area of the Gunnison above the Tomichi Creek confluence, would not impact the native flows available to water rights outside that area. mown 4.1.2 Water rights in the Gunnison or Colorado River Basins located downstream from the claimed water right. I concur with Mr. Lochhead that the proposed RICD water right will not affect in any way the use of water under any water right in the Gunnison or Colorado River basins located downstream from the whitewater course. This is because the water right is non - consumptive, and will not result in any additional loss or depletion of water from the Gunnison River. 4.1.3 Water rights or exchanges with priorities senior to the claimed water right. Since the application in this case was filed in 2002 with an appropriation date of October 20, 1998, the claimed water right will be administered as junior to all water rights or • 5of17