BOARD00660

• Board Meeting Date: 9/24/2001
• Description: News Release Policy
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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"We feel that the water court decision raises more questions than it answers, Because other water
courts will be asked to make similar decisions in the future it is appropriate to seek Supreme Court
guidance," said Kuharich.
The issues the Supreme Court may be asked to address include:
· Should water courts determine when a request is too large and thus would result in 'waste'?
· What factors should courts use to determine whether an applicant has 'controlled' water and thus falls
under the legal requirement that water be diverted to be put to beneficial use?
· Where does an entity's ability to use water in a stream channel end and the CWCB's exclusive authority
to hold instream flow water rights begin?
· Resolve other ambiguities in the 1992 'Fort Collins' Supreme Court decision.
"We are working hard to get out in front of this issue so future water rights applicants and other water
courts won't have to struggle the way we have. We are trying to fit these rights into our system," said
Kuharich,
The CWCB was created in 1937. It is responsible for flood protection, water supply protection,
stream and lake protection, water project planning and financing, state water policy, and other water resource
responsibilities. The agency operates under the direction of a IS-member board, The Board is comprised of
representatives from eight major river basins and the City and County of Denver plus the Executive Director
of the Department of Natural Resources, the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Colorado Attorney General,
the State Engineer, the Division of Wildlife Director, and the CWCB Director,
For more information, contact Rod Kuharich at [phone].
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Colorado Water Conservation Board
Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Financing. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning