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SECWCD <br />February 16, 2006 <br />2 <br />RECORD OF PROCEEDING <br />Water District; Terry Scanga and Tom Young, Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District; Doris <br />Morgan, Senator Allard's office; Allison Cortner, Senator Salazar's office; Sal Pace, <br />Congressman's Salazar's office; Kevin Salter, Kansas Division of Water Resources & Kansas <br />Department of Agriculture; Phil Boawn, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Ken Weber; Ingrid <br />Richter, Oakwood Homes for Rolling Hills Ranch; and Les Gruen, Urban Strategies for Rolling <br />Hills Ranch. <br />APPROVAL OF MINUTES: <br />President Stealey asked if the members of the Board had received their copy of the minutes of the <br />January 19, 2006 Board meeting, and if there were any corrections or additions. Hearing none, Mr. <br />Long moved, seconded by Mr. O'Donnell, to approve the minutes. Motion unanimously carried. <br />FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT: <br />Mr. O'Donnell reported the financial report for the month of January 2006 was mailed to the Board <br />and moved, seconded by Mr. McClure, to approve the financial report for January and approve <br />payment of the February bills. Motion unanimously carried. <br />DIVISION ENGINEERS'S REPORT: <br />Steve Witte reviewed the reservoir contents and the most recent Daily Report of the river readings <br />for 2/15/06. The current river call is 03/01/1910 Winter Water Storage Program. <br />Mr. Witte reported on the Arkansas River Compact, saying negotiations are continuing on the final <br />decree. The finalization of the version of the HI model to be used for determination of Compact <br />compliance continues to be elusive. After making the changes agreed upon, recalibration and <br />rerunning the model with data for 1997 -2004, unexpected results were produced. A joint request has <br />been submitted to the Special Master seeking additional time to evaluate the cause. <br />Mr. Witte said one protest to the proposed amendments to the Arkansas Ground Water <br />Measurement Rules was lodged by the Lower Arkansas Water Management Association <br />(LAWMA), which will probably necessitate a hearing and delay the implementation of the <br />proposed amendments. <br />Mr. Witte expressed concern over the effect of increasing irrigation efficiencies. He said the <br />potential for injury as a consequence of a change of water rights is no different than that associated <br />with increasing irrigation efficiencies. Mr. Witte showed some PowerPoint slides explaining the <br />effects, and said increasing efficiency is not included within the list of parameters defining "a <br />change." Mr. Witte said it is important to recognize that conditions can prevent injury, but the <br />question is, what means can be used to impose such conditions or otherwise address the problem? <br />• Amend the definition of a change of water rights <br />• Persuade federal agencies to discontinue subsidization of such projects <br />• Rely on administrative enforcement authority to enforce Compact provisions <br />