County's RICD Application Approved by State Water Board

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County's RICD application approved by state water board Use of methamphetamInes is on the rise in the US. Has it impacted your life? Please select one: � ; No, never tried it. Yes, have tried it ' in the past. �} Yes, currently use it. o Have a friend or family member who is using or has used it. Vote View Results Page 2 of 3 Steve Bushong, water attorney for Chaffee County, said he hopes to have the application before a water court judge within 30 days and expects the judge to sign it within an additional 30 days. Before filing with water court, however, the county needs to finalize a series of understandings with objectors in the case. The issues have been the subject of negotiations during the past year. The primary agreement involves the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, the City of Salida, Colorado State Parks and the Division of Wildlife. Other agreements involve Aurora, Trout Unlimited, Lake County and Pueblo West, among others. "We're working out a couple details with a few of the parties," Bushong said. "If you have stipulations with all the parties, the judge will typically enter a consent decree. Then we are done." The Chaffee County request calls for 1,800 cubic feet per second of water in the Arkansas River through Buena Vista and Salida during eight "event" days in June. The event days are flexible depending upon when the annual FIBArk festival is scheduled in Salida and upon timing of a planned annual whitewater festival in Buena Vista. The request calls for 1,400 cfs during the remainder of June and 700 cfs in July and August as managed by the current voluntary flow program. The call is for 250 cfs the rest of the year. "It guarantees water for the critical times when we have boating events," Mallett said. "We'll probably become the whitewater capital of the United States as soon as we get Buena Vista on line." The Buena Vista whitewater park is scheduled to open this spring. As part of the stipulations with objectors, Chaffee County agreed to yield to exchanges that could reduce the peak decree from 1,800 to as little as 1,400 cfs in certain circumstances. During drought, the county agreed to reduce its decree to 1,500 cfs during event days and 1,100 cfs for the rest of June. "It is an adjustable flow rate," Bushong said. A group of Chaffee County citizens objects to the application and submitted a petition Tuesday requesting the county stop spending taxpayer money on it. "I don't feel it's something the county should be doing," Karin Adams, a petition signer, said. "We have water boards that can handle water and have been satisfactorily. The county commissioners have no business butting in on water issues." If the application is granted, the county will become a player in water cases on the Arkansas River creating a potential ongoing expense for taxpayers. "They are going to have to monitor it," Adams said. "They are always going to be in the middle of the fuss. If they differ, there goes our legal fees to defend this filing." i Adams also worries about change on the board of commissioners, which consists of http : / /www. themountainmail. comlmain. asp? S ectionID =4 &Sub S ectionID= 4 &ArticlelD =7... 3/29/2006 This Week's Poll