BOARD00035

• Board Meeting Date: 6/3/1982
• Description: CWCB Meeting
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

HOLLA!'D & HART

Dr. Jeris Danielson
May 19, 1982
Page 2

Suppleme~t). The Colorado Supreme Court recognized that
although there are some private righ~s in the reservoir, the
state is the owner of the facility. Colorado v. Lionello, 157
Colo. 161, 401 P.2d 593 (1965).

In 1981, the legislature amended the Boss Lake
statute to allow the transfer of control of the facility from
Chaffee County to the Upper Arka~sas District. This transfer
is nearly comple~e. The statutory amendment added language
generally prohibiting the use of state money for the reservoir
but ma~:ing an exception. for "expenses payable from the Colorado
water conservation board construction fund". Thus, the
legislature itself specifically recognized that the Board's
funds could be used to maintain the reservoir and provide for
water storage in the facility. Even if the criteria of
37-50-121 could be interpreted as prohibiting the proposed
funds (which we think is wrong), this specific statutory
direction provides authorization.

However, there is little question that the proposal
satisfies the Board's general criteria. The facility will be
used to store flood waters on the Arkansas system which would
otherwise go downst~eam wit~ substantial losses and perhaps
even to John Martin Reservoir and on to Kansas. This storage
high up on the system "will increase the beneficial consumptive
use of Colorado's compact entitled waters" by avoiding the
evaporation and transportation losses and the possibility of
loss to Kansas.

Also the Upper Arkansas District plans to use Boss
Lake to store part of its allocation of Fryingpan-Arkansas
project water. This water is comprised of both Colorado River
and Arkansas River waters. The District, if it is able to
store its entitlement, will of =ou~se, increase the beneficial
consumptive use of these waters.

The Boss Lake reservoir is an existing structure and
therefore clearly qualifies under 37-20-121(11) as a project
"for the repair and rehabilitation of eXisting water storage
and delivery systems." The Dis~rict plans to use the structure
to implement the statutory purpose of distribu~ing the water
for the benefit of the area's water users.

The Boss Lake project is a major plan by which the
Dist~ict can accomplish its statutory goals. We seek the
suppo=t of the state and, in pa~~icular the Conservation Soard,
to study the potential for rehabilitation of the structure