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<br /> <br />, <br /> <br />HOLLAND & HART LLP <br />ATTORNEYS AT LAW <br /> <br />DENVER. ASPEN <br />BOULDER. COLORADO SPRINGS <br />DENVER TECH CENTER <br />BILLINGS. BOISE <br />CHEYENNE. JACKSON HOLE <br />SALT LAKE cITY. SANTA FE <br />WASHINGTON, D.C. <br /> <br />SUITE 3200 <br />555 SEVENTEENTH STREET <br />DENVER, COLORADO 80202.3979 <br />MAILING ADDRESS <br />p.O. BOX 8749 <br />DENVER, COLORADO 80201-8749 <br /> <br />TELEPHONE (303) 295-8000 <br />FACSIMILE (303) 295-8261 <br /> <br />An ne J. Castle <br />(303) 295-S229 <br />Christopher L. Thorne <br />(303) 295-8488 <br />(303) 295.S261 Fax <br />www.westernwaterlaw.com <br /> <br />July 25, 2003 <br /> <br />VIA FACSIMILE & HAND DELIVERY <br /> <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />1313 Sherman Street, Suite 721 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> <br />Re: Use of Monies from Litigation Funds To Oppose RICD <br />Water Rights <br /> <br />Dear Board Members: <br /> <br />The City of Pueblo and the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, <br />through their undersigned respective attorneys, object to Item No. 12 on the <br />agenda of the Colorado Water Conservation Board ("CWCB") for July 28. <br />Authorization of the use of monies from the statutory reserved rights or other <br />CWCB litigation funds to participate as an opposer in Case No. 04-02CW38, <br />the recreational in-channel diversion ("RICD") application of the Upper <br />Gunnison Water Conservancy District ("Upper Gunnison"), would violate the <br />narrowly circumscribed statutory provisions governing these funds. <br /> <br />It is our understanding from the published agenda for the CWCB's July <br />28-29, 2003 meeting in Pagosa Springs that, "pursuant to [C.R.S.g] 37-60- <br />121.1," the Attorney General's Office will request the CWCB to approve the <br />use of money from the "litigation fund to protect Colorado's compact <br />entitlements by defending the Board's findings Case No. 04-02CW38." This <br />request is not authorized and should not be approved by the CWCB. Nothing in <br />C.R.S. g 37-60-121.1, which establishes a "reserved rights litigation fund," <br />contemplates use of public funds for the purposes requested by the Attorney <br />General's Office. Moreover, even if the Attorney General were seeking <br />approval to use money from the different "litigation fund" established in <br />C.R.S. g 37-60-121 (2.5)(a) to finance litigation against Upper Gunnison, the <br />request is not within the limited purposes for which money from this fund may <br />be expended. <br /> <br />The parties submitting this letter, many of whom have appropriated <br />water rights for recreational in-stream use to benefit their local economies and <br />communities, as authorized under existing Colorado law, are very concerned <br />