BOARD00422

• Board Meeting Date: 9/10/2002
• Description: Flood Section - State of Colorado Resolution in Support of the Corps of Engineers Proposed Salt Cedar Demonstration
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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SALT CEDAR ERADICATION
COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD
GUNNSION, COLORADO
SEPTEMBER 12, 2002

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Colorado Water Conservation Board's mission is to conserve, develop, protect
and manage Colorado's water for present and future generations; and

WHEREAS, salt cedar is a noxious nonnative plant that increases water loss due to high
evapotranspiration rates and can use up to 200 gallons of water a day; and

WHEREAS, the state of Colorado is experiencing increasing difficulty with delivery of
compact water to downstream states because of salt cedar invasions; and

WHEREAS, the limited resources require partnerships and cost-sharing of studies and projects
with federal, state, local, and private funding whenever possible; and

WHEREAS, U.S. Senators Pete Domenici, Wayne Allard, and Ben Nighthorse Campbell
introduced Senate Bill 2868 during the l07th Congress which directs the U.S. Army Corps ofEngllieers
to carry out a research and demonstration program at federal expense for the eradication and control of
salt cedar and other nonnative phreatophytes; and

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 2868 authorizes $10 million in Federal FY 2003 and such sums as
may be necessary to carry out the program in FY2003-FY2007 for demonstration projects in Texas,
Utah, Arizona and Colorado; and

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 2868 requires consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the
Secretary of the Interior, the Governors of the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and
Utah, tribal governments and the heads offederal, state and local agencies as appropriate; and

WHEREAS, the salt cedar eradication demonstration project on the Pecos River in Texas
has shown the effectiveness of herbicide application by helicopter in decreasing the amount of salt
cedar along the river, increased water yield, and decreased salinity in the river water; and

WHEREAS, the leading ingredient in the EP A approved salt cedar herbicide Arsenal is
imazapyr, which works on enzymes found only in plants and has not proven harmful to animals and
hmnans; and

WHEREAS, salt cedar dominates local vegetation, developing into a monoculture, increasing
soil salinity and water salinity; and