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I am also aware of some concerns being expressed by the City of Pueblo (as compared to <br /> the Board of Water Works), but can assure you that the project proponents are actively engaged <br /> in talks with the City. This includes an exchange of written proposals designed to alleviate their <br /> concems through a mutually beneficial approach to water management. I believe that such a <br /> solution is certainly possible without requiring any amendments to H.R. 3881 Colorado law, as <br /> developed over the last century, recognizes the seniority of the project participant's existing <br /> decrees and pending water right applications which will be utilized in project operations. That <br /> same set of statutes also dictates that the state Water Conservation Board is the "only" entity <br /> entitled to hold "instream flow decrees," with such decrees being found throughout the basin. <br /> Finally, state law also identifies, consistent with the federal Clean Water Act, a set of regulatory <br /> provisions which ensure that "dilution is not the solution to pollution," and that water quality <br /> me r rr,o,�r, + o ,.} „ n t the right to divert requirements, though 1 0l paramount LA31L ��1p V1 La11Ce, V���1VL impair Llle llglll to LLl Jell water and place <br /> it to beneficial use. Investments made to date by others without consideration of these pre- <br /> existing legal and factual premises may have been unwise, but they are investments which <br /> nonetheless should be accommodated to the extent practicable. We have encouraged the City of <br /> Pueblo to join the rest of us in supporting this legislation, and to participate in this project so as <br /> to acquire the ability to store water in available space and release it for their legitimate <br /> downstream needs. <br /> H.R. 3881 is project- specific legislation, and hence holds no implications for other <br /> Bureau projects. However, it should not go without saying that there is ample precedent for such <br /> a practical and useful approach to meeting water supply demands in the West, including H.R. <br /> 6 <br />