Comments of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District August 2005

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BEFORE THE COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD STATE OF COLORADO IN RE: PROPOSED RULES CONCERNING RECREATIONAL IN- CHANNEL DIVERSION (RICD) COMMENTS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT The Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District ( "Southeastern"), by and through its counsel, Burns, Figa & Will, P.C., submits the following comments pursuant to the notice of public rulemaking hearing before the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) for consideration of amendments and additions to the Recreation In- Channel Diversion Rules codified at 2 CCR 408 -3 dated July 13, 2005. 1. Background Southeastern is a statutory water conservancy district (see C.R.S. §§ 37 -45 -101, et seq.), which includes within its boundaries most of the municipalities and irrigated land in the Arkansas River Valley in Colorado. Southeastern administers, holds all water rights for, and repays reimbursable costs for the Fryingpan- Arkansas Project, a $550 million multi - purpose reclamation project authorized by Congress and built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The Project diverts water underneath the Continental Divide, from the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork River drainages, into the Arkansas River drainage, where Project water is stored in Pueblo Reservoir and other reservoirs. Southeastern provides Project water and return flows to supplement the decreed water rights of water users throughout the District, which extends across parts of nine counties. Southeastern repays a large part of the Project's construction costs (estimated at $127 million over a minimum 40 -year period), as well as annual operation and maintenance costs, in accordance with its repayment contract with the United States. Payments are made primarily from property tax revenues available to Southeastern, supplemented by revenue from Project water sales. Southeastern has long been involved in the recreational water issues, having pioneered cooperative water management with the Upper Arkansas Voluntary Flow Management Program. In addition, Southeastern participated in the development of the RICD statute (SB 01 -216), the original rulemaking for the adoption of the existing RICD rules in 2001, CWCB RICD hearings including the first hearing under the RICD statute and rules, and in the appeals of the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District's RICD filing and the Golden kayak case.