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Yet, as the Engineers acknowledge in their brief, simply because <br />"the General Assembly granted the COGCC primary authority over <br />oil and gas operations does not exempt oil and gas wells from <br />complying with applicable Colorado water law." See also Three <br />Bells, 758 P.2d at 171 ( "[W]hen mining operations affect water <br />rights, it is necessary for the operator to achieve compliance <br />with the [Ground Water Act and the 1969 Act]. "). The Engineers <br />fail to point to a specific provision in the Oil and Gas <br />Conservation Act that exempts oil and gas production from the <br />1969 Act or the Ground Water Act, and we decline to create such <br />an exemption here. <br />The Engineers also point to section 37- 91- 102(16)(b)(I), <br />C.R.S. (2008) of the Water Well Construction and Pump <br />Installation Contractors Act, which exempts from regulation <br />"those wells subject to the jurisdiction of the [ COGCC], as <br />provided in article 60 of 34,- C.R.S." The Engineers' reliance <br />on this provision misses the mark as well. While section <br />37- 91- 102(16)(b)(I) might exempt oil and gas wells from the <br />provisions governing water well construction, see generally <br />§ 37 -91 -101, C.R.S. (2008) (noting, among other things, the <br />importance of the "proper location, construction, repair, and <br />abandonment of wells "), it does not exempt them from the <br />requirements of the 1969 Act and the Ground Water Act. <br />22 <br />