BOARD00451

• Board Meeting Date: 1/31/1979
• Description: Agenda, Minutes, Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

applications or any further applications until about 1982 or 1983. We
have so advised the Legislature of this fact, through a report which I
submitted to the Speaker of the House and to the President of the Senate.
That is a report that this board is required to submit annually showing
the status of the Construction Fund.

Our neighboring states, particularly Wyoming and utah, have taken very I
important measures to inject the state into the water resources develop-
ment field. As you know, Wyoming, in 1977, created a $100 million
construction fund, with a provision that that fund should never drop
below $50 million--there are additional appropriations provided for ~o
bring it up so it never drops below $50 million.

The state of utah last year authorized a $25 million bond issue and, in
addition, appropriated several million more from the general fund. To
date, we have received a total sum in the last seven years of $600,000
from the general fund here in ColOrado.

In view of the present law in Colorado, which provides that agency
budgets in any fiscal year canno~ exceed the past year's budget by more
than 7 percent, it is obviously impossible to get increased funding
from the general fund. Seven percent does not actually even cover the
normal rate of inflation. We are faced with a problem this year of
trying to get a supplemental appropriation just for normal operating,
and salary expenses. We haye had to cut down rather drastically in a
number of fields. We can no longer pay any ~ype of membership fees, to
the Colorado Water Congress or others. We simply don't have the money.
We have also cut down on our mailing considerably, because postage, as
you know, has increased rather dramatically in the past few years. So
we are having a very difficult time just in the normal operation. .

Considering all the different facets, I met with some of the GOvernor's
staff, Mr. Sherman, and others, during the pas~ four or five months.
We have been discussing this. I have met also with some of the leaders
in the General Assembly.

In addition to the demands for the projects here in the state, which are
increasing, by the way, largely as a result of dam safety inspection and
the result of small communities expanding in size and most of them
having very antiquated water systems--the demand is constantly increasing
for some assistance. And federal monies are becoming increasingly more
difficult to come by.

The President has announced his policy, as you know, which states that
he will give priority in his budget recommendations to those states I
which come up with what he calls "front-end money." Legislation has
been prepared for introduction into this session of Congress which
would make that a law. However, the President states. that even if
Congress does not pass that law, it still will be a budgetary consid-
eration in his recommendations, in his budget recommendations. His
policy provides that for vendable products the states must provide 10
percent of the cost of any project. That is primarily dealing with the
sale of water for agricultural, municipal, or whatever, and the power
output.

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