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. STATE OF OLORAD Colorado Water Conservation Board Department of Natural Resources 1313 Shennan Street, Room 721 Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone: (303) 866-;3441 FAX: (303) 8664474 www.cwcb.state.co.us MEMORANDUM Greg E Walcher Execu ve Director I Rod K 'ch eWeB Director To: CWCB Members From: Dan Merriman, Ted Kowalski Dan M Aulille Depu Director Date: July 18, 2003 . Re: Agenda Item 26, July 28-29, 2003 Board Meeting- Stream and Lake Protection Section - Proposal to WCB to Facilitate the Retirement of Certain Hermosa Creek Water Right! Senior to the Board's In Stream Flows by Durango Mountain Resorts;! Background I The Colorado Water Conservation Board holds a decree to pr . serve the natural environment on the East Fork of Hermosa Creek in La Plata ( ounty in Water Division No.7. The CWCB obtained this water right in Case No. 7-8 tW278 for 3.0 cfs (March I-October 31) and 1.5 cfs (November I-February 29). Durar ~o Mountain Resorts ("DMR") is a ski company that operates a ski slope, in part, Ithin the East Fork Hermosa Creek drainage. DMR owns a number of condition' water rights that are senior to the CWCB's instream flow water right on East He 'osa Creek. On June 12, 2003, DMR wrote the CWCB staff to inquire whether the C CB would want to playa role in facilitating the retirement of these water rights. A cop' of this letter is attached. In the June 12,2003 letter, DMR suggests two ways that the WCB could assist DMR i retiring these rights: 1) by allowing DMR to assign or donate to the Board the right to abandon these water rights ("DMR's Option 1 "); or 2) by co . eratively abandoning thes,e' rights whereby the Board would write a letter stating that the . WCB encourages the I Division of Water Resources and/or the water court to accept the abandonment of these ! water rights ("Option 2"). .