Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District 2003 Annual Report

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t Government of the District Colorado State Statutes provide that water conservancy districts shall be under the direction of a board of directors representing the area served by the district. When the District Court in Pueblo created the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District in 1958, it ruled that each of the nine counties in the District would have two appointed directors, with the exception that Prowers and Kiowa Counties would be represented by one person. Other counties represented are: Bent, Chaffee, Crowley, El Paso, Fremont, Otero, and Pueblo. The members of the board are obligated to carry out the provisions in State Statutes and such other agreements and contracts as are entered into in the conduct of business in the interest of present and future citizens served by the District. It is important to note that the boundaries of the District do not represent the entire counties, but only those portions where citizens petitioned the Court to become a part of the District. Statutes also provide that the District shall be under the legal jurisdiction of a District Court, and the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District is under the jurisdiction of Division A, Tenth Judicial District, located in Pueblo, Colorado. The Honorable Dennis Maes, Presiding Judge for Division A in Pueblo, retains jurisdiction over appointment of directors and other legal matters involving the District. A major change took place in the appointment of members for directors of conservancy districts throughout the State of Colorado during 1985. Early in the legislative session, members of the Colorado General Assembly heard detailed testimony regarding Senate Bill 141, which would change the way in which members of the board of directors were either appointed or elected, and the basis for their selection. After many amendments and extensive debates, Senate Bill 141 was passed and signed by the Honorable Richard D. Lamm, Governor, on June 6, 1985. The Bill authorized that the Presiding Judge in Pueblo County would consult with the Presiding Judge in each judicial district represented by the Southeastern District, and would appoint persons from those who make formal application for consideration. Senate Bill 141 required that appointments be made based upon population within individual counties, and counties with less than one percent would be excluded from having a member on the board. This would change the composition of the Southeastern District's board over a period of four years by reducing the representation from Bent, Chaffee, Crowley, Fremont, and Otero Counties from two directors to one; with representation from Kiowa / Prowers Counties staying at one; increasing the representation from El Paso County from two to five directors; Pueblo County from two to three; and one at -large position. Senate Bill 141 also provided that the new legislation could be instituted by legal entities within the District petitioning the Court, or petitions being filed with an appropriate number of signatures. On August 13, 1985 the City of Colorado Springs and the Board of Water Works of Pueblo filed appropriate petitions with the District Court requesting that the provisions of Senate Bill 141 be implemented in the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The Honorable Richard Robb held several hearings on the petitions, giving representatives from Chaffee, Fremont, and Kiowa Counties the opportunity to express concern over the loss of members on the board of directors. After due consideration, Judge Robb ruled on December 11, 1985 that the provisions of Senate Bill 141 should apply to the District. He then promulgated a procedure whereby appointments in 1986 would conform with those provisions. .7.