Alburqueque District Statement to Arkansas River Compact Administration August 26 1983

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AUGUST 26, 1903 PROJECT OPERATION We in the Corps of Engineers were somewhat surprised by the letter, dated June 2, 1983, from Attorney General Stephans of Kansas to General Bratton, Chief of Engineers. I suppose our surprise was more from the lack of knowledge of Kansas' concern than the allegations of wrongdoing by the Corps in the operation of our Trinidad Project. To set the record straight, the Corps did not construct and does not operate Pueblo Dam as alleged in Attorney General Stephan's letter; we do, however, prescribe the flood control operating criteria for the project. Furthermore, we are not aware of any action on our part that is a violation of the Arkansas River Compact or any other federal or state law. We have known of the disagreement between the states of Colorado and Kansas over the operation of Trinidad Dam and have furnished the state of Kansas various data on the operation of the project. However, to my knowledge, prior to receipt of Attorney General Stephan's letter, no one from Kansas had alleged to me or my staff any wrongdoing or violation of the Arkansas River Compact. I would have likedto have been given the opportunity to solve the problem at the District level, in lieu of the problem having been escalated immediately to the Chief of Engineers. Be that as it may, it is our position that the dispute over the storage and release of water from Trinidad, other than for flood control operation, is between the States of Kansas and Colorado, and in no way should the Corps of Engineers be interjected into the dispute. If Kansas and/or Colorado has documentation that indicates the Corps of Engineers' operation of the flood storage at Trinidad is in violation of the Arkansas River Compact or other federal or state laws, we will be more than happy to meet with the states to resolve these issues. - 4 ---