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<br />m ~_ <br />-""-------_..._--- - <br /> <br />(iii) Whether other sources of wil.ter are available for the new use. (Wyo. <br />Stat., 41-3-104) <br /> <br />The Wyoming Board of Control exercised its discretion in balancing economic <br />impacts in a decision denying Pacific Power a permit to change the point of diversion of a <br />water right. The board found that the change in place of use would cause serious economic <br />effects in the county of origin, and questioned whether the benefits derived from power <br />generation that might be shipped out of state could offset the losses to the county in which <br />the original water was being exercised.18 <br /> <br />The differences in statutory treatment of the public interest raises the question: <br />does listing specific criteria define for a regulatory agency what the public interest is or <br />does it more appropriately acknowledge that there is room for interpretation depending on <br />changes in societal interests? University of New Mexico law professor Charles DuMars <br />suggests that specific legislative criteria may not be as important as the rule-making process <br />used by state agencies to implement legislative intent.19 Legislation may be most helpful <br />in defining what should not be considered in weighing the public interest; e.g., <br />administrative issues such as which parties have legal standing to protest a transfer <br />application and who bears the burden of proof. <br /> <br />Court Interpretations <br />In the absence of statutory guidance, state courts have made determinations <br />regarding the application of public interest criteria. Different conclusions have been, <br />reached. A district water court judge in Colorado denied a motion to apply public interest <br />criteria without legislative direction. On May 5, 1988, Judge Robert Brown ruled in <br />proceedings on the city of Aurora's Collegiate Peaks project that he had no authority to <br />consider public interest values within the existing constitutional and statutory setting for <br /> <br />13 <br />