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Statement of Basis and Purpose <br /> Senate Bill 216 ("S.B. 216" or"the law") to <br /> The 2001 General Assembly enacted S ( ) <br /> establish a procedure for the adjudication of recreational in-channel diversion by local <br /> governments. The statutory authority for these rules is found at section 37-92- <br /> 102(6)(b)(VI), C.R.S. The purpose of these rules is to establish procedures and criteria <br /> by which the Board will make its findings of fact and final recommendations to a water <br /> court as to whether a recreational in-channel diversion application should be granted, <br /> granted with conditions, or denied. These Rules fulfill the responsibility of the Board <br /> under C.R.S. 37-92-102(6)(b) to set forth in Rules, after public notice and comment, the <br /> factors to be utilized in evaluating RICDs. It incorporates, and provides additional <br /> guidance upon, the factors specific in C.R.S. Section 37-92-102(b)(I) through (V) <br /> iereritifiZnliusefactoss. In addition, these rules provide further guidance to <br /> applicants for recreational in-channel diversions and the water courts about the factors <br /> that the water court must consider under SB 216. Nothing in these Rules is intended to <br /> modify existing appropriative rights or impact future appropriative rights for traditional <br /> consumptive uses through the imposition of limitations upon the exercise of such rights <br /> for the benefit of public interests under a public trust theory, or to in any way incorporate <br /> such a theory into the adjudication or administration of water rights under Colorado law. <br /> These Rules provide specific procedures that an applicant for a RICD must undergo once <br /> it has filed an application. <br /> More specifically, SB. 216 was enacted to ensure that decrees for recreational in-channel <br /> diversions, as recognized by the Colorado Supreme Court in the City of Thornton v. City <br /> of Fort Collins case, are integrated into the state prior appropriation system in a manner <br /> which appropriately balances the need for water based recreational opportunities with the <br /> ability of Colorado citizens to divert and store water under our compact entitlements for <br /> more traditional consumptive use purposes, such as municipal, industrial and agricultural <br /> uses. It does not bestow upon any individual or entity the authority to appropriate <br /> instream flows or minimum lake levels. This remains the exclusive prerogative of the <br /> Colorado Water Conservation Board. <br /> SB 216 accomplishes its objectives by expressly providing for the following: <br /> 1. It specifically limits the category of entities that can obtain such decrees to those <br /> public and quasi-public entities identified in the law. <br /> 2. It defines "recreational in-channel diversions" such that only the "minimum" flow <br /> necessary to support the recreational activity can be sought, with physical control <br /> structures defining the upstream and downstream extent of the right. The waters are <br /> to be controlled by the applicant in the identified reach, with applicant holding an is ip interest in the lands abutting the reach. By way of example, this would <br /> mean that applicant could potentially obtain a right to the minimum amount of water <br /> necessary to float a kayak through a constructed course consisting of boat chutes <br /> within the reach, such that there would exist a reasonable recreation experience, while <br /> ensuring that the entire flow of the reach is not dedicated to this right. It is <br /> 40 <br />