BOARD00281

• Board Meeting Date: 9/21/1998
• Description: Colorado River Basin Issues - Upper Colorado River Commissioner's Report - Increasing Colorado's Stored Water
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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for transfa-. Given the 10111-1 contraotuaI relationship between the transferee Dlftriet '

and Reclamation, the parties faun it difficult to find a middle ground for lIddrMsing the ,

issues as between the contractins p rtles and also addressing the public issues. Frequently'

the Districts would get ftustrated th Reclamation and go to Cons"'" with a bill which

asked Congress, in effegt, to campi the ~ent they could not reach with Reclamation.

Not SUl'prisingly, such approaches not succeed.

III.

Beginning in October of 19 ,the Pine River Irrigation District began a series of

public seoping meetings to address cerns relating to a proposed transfer of Valleeito

Reservoir and certain lands lll'OU11d e reservoir. Those scoping meetings were helpful in

foculling the District on several iNUes t needed to be l'08Olved. First wu the need to lIlIsure

the Southern Ute Indian Tribe - whi hu a one fifth interest in the reIel'VOir facilities and

water supply - that ita intereatl woul be protected. Under the proposed bill, the Southern '

Ute Indian Tribe's one fifth interes Can be transferred. In like fashion, the recreation

community around ValIecito 'r wu concerned about the status of their valuable

resource after transfer. Accordingly written agreement was entered into between the

District and the Van.cito communi and made a part of the Va1lecito leplation. Other

col1Qems involved the Forest Service d the La Plata County government.

Legislation trarJ8ferring the V lecito Reservoir was introduced in March of 1998.

S/E'd

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