BOARD00421

• Board Meeting Date: 7/25/2006
• Description: Report of the Attorney General
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Page 6

".

3. Children of the Son 98CW82 .\
Trial is scheduled in the Children of the Son case for July 31,2006. Applicant proposes a /
new water right. change of use of existing water rights and a plan for augmentation to
operate a children's camp and retreat center for adults. The application would result in an
expansion of use that could injure the CWCB's ISF right. All opposers,
including neighboring land owners and the State and Division Engineers, remain in the case.
The, close of discovery is June 11,2006 and parties anticipate scheduling depositions in late
May. The opposers believe that the applicant is improperly claiming dry up credit for lands
that were historically irrigated under a ditch that was sold in the 1960's and no longer serves
the COTS property. Opposers also believe that applicant incorrectly states the number of
irrigated acres that can remain after accounting for dry up. These and other issues remain
and the parties continue to negotiate. If no settlement has been reached the AGO at the July
Board meeting will request authorization to proceed to trial.

4. Upper Eagle River Water Authority 02CW403

On April 27th, Judge Craven vacated our May trial dates due to a criminal matter
behind which 02CW403 was scheduled. The criminal matter is proceeding to trial, so the
judge reset our trial for January 2,3 and 8, 2007. The State informed the judge that we may
be invoking the retained jurisdiction provisions of the two previous cases that have
incorporated the di~puted table ofmonthiy depletion rates in some way, and that we may
then move to consolidate those actions with 02CW403 because there are common issues of
fact and law. The State believes that it can resolve all the issues with Eagle County and the
Eagle County School District, which means that the only remaining issue is the ongoing
dispute over the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority's continued reliance on the disputed
table. Judge Craven scheduled a hearing for Friday, July 7, 2006, to hear oral arguments
regarding the Authority's operations and the disputed table. He thought that he needed to
address this issue in a morc global manncr rather than trying to deal with bits and picces of
the Authority's operations from case to case. He ordered that the State and the Authority
submit reports by June 23, 2006, on their views of the big picture and whether the Authority
should be allowed to continue to use the disputed table, which does not accurately reflect
what is taking place on the ground. The State believes that it has obtained enough evidence
to demonstrate to the Court how the use of the table injures the CWCB's water rights as well
as downstream water rights like the Shoshone Power Plant water rights. The Division
Engineer's office is taking the lead on producing a comprehensive report for the Court. We
anticipate that settlement negotiations will continue. Judge Craven subsequently passed
away. Judge Petrie is now assigned to the case.

.

.

6