BOARD00131

• Board Meeting Date: 7/20/2004
• Description: Flood Section - Endorsement of the CWCB Operating Principles for the Colorado Floodplain and Stormwater Criteria Manual
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.us

MEMORANDUM

Bill Owens
Governor

TO:
FROM:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members
Larry Lang, P.E., Chief, Flood Protection Section
Thomas Browning, P .E., CFM, Flood Protection Section
July 8, 2004
Agenda Item 8.a, July 20-21, 2004 Board Meeting--
Endorsement of the CWCB Interim Operating Principles for the
"Colorado Floodplain and Stormwater Criteria Manual"

Russel George
Executive Director

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

DATE:
SUBJECT:

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

Introduction
At the March Board meeting, we held a formal workshop regarding the development of the "Colorado
Floodplain and Stormwater Criteria Manual" (Manual). We discussed in detail the guidance regarding
the proposed "Operating Principles" in the Manual.

These 12 Operating Principles serve as objectives or "guiding lights" for the Manual. These objectives,
in turn, a1\ow us to develop the technical details and engineering criteria necessary to reach the
objectives.

We will not be asking you to endorse the technical details or the engineering criteria, only the
principles. The technical details and criteria contained in the other chapters will be the result of the
work a Technical Advisory Committee (T AC) that was formed specifically for this purpose.

The T AC consists of highly qualified individuals (representing federal, state, local and private sectors)
having expertise in the fields of floodplain engineering, floodplain management, flood hazard
identification, and other related areas. This group has reached a consensus on the principles and are
expected to reach consensus on every issue raised in the manual.

We are also working closely with the Attorney General's (AG's) office in order to complete the chapter
dealing with Colorado drainage law. The AG is being aided by Ed Krisor, the attorney for the Urban
Drainage and Flood Control District.

Discussion
The Staff's presentation to the Board and to the public, which was a detailed Power Point slide show in
at the March 2004 meeting, provided the staff's overaIl vision for the Manual, the outline for the
Manual's chapters, and the twelve (12) Operating Principles.
The vision for the Manual is:

Flood Protection. Water Supply Planning and Finance. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation and Drought Planning