BOARD00705

• Board Meeting Date: 3/21/2006
• Description: WSP Section - Avon RICD Application
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO

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Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natural Resources
1313 Shennan Street, Room 72 I
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
WWW.cwcb.state.co.llS

MEMORANDUM

Bill Owens
Governor

To:

Members, CWCB

RusseU George
Executive Director

From: Ted Kowalski, RICD Program Manager

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

Date: March 10, 2006

Rick Brown
Acting Deputy
Director

Re: Agenda Item 13, March 22-23, 2006 Board Meeting, Stream and Lake Protection Pending
Recreational In-Channel Diversion (RICD) Application

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Back2round
In December 2005, the Town of Avon filed for a Recreational In-Channel Diversion ("RICD") water right
on the Eagle River as it flows through three structures located within the Town of Avon. (Please see the
attached application and letters of March 9, 2006 and March 10,2006). The RICD application is for three
different flows--200 cfs, 350 cfs and 1400 cfs. The Staff has filed a statement of opposition in this case.
The Board will be asked to ratify this statement of opposition on the consent agenda of this meeting.

The RICD rules provide that an applicant, any party, or any Board member may request, within forty-five
days of the Application Receipt Date, that the Board bold a hearing on a pending application. The Staff
has received a written request from the Applicant requesting a hearing regarding the Avon RICD.
Pursuant to Senate Bill 216 and the CWCB rules, the Board is required to file its findings of fact and
recommendations with the water court within 90 days after the final closing date for filing statements of
opposition, unless the water court grants additional time. This would require the Board to file its findings
of fact and recommendations on or before May 28, 2006.

The Staff and the Town of Avon have discussed the possibility of delaying the date by which the Board
would be required to file its findings of fact and recommendation to the water court. Such a delay could
allow the Applicant to reach settlements with all or many of the parties, eliminating the need for a lengthy
hearing before the Board. In addition, rather than hold a hearing and delaying deliberations (as occurred
in the Chaffee County case) it would be more efficient to handle the entire hearing process at one time.
The agreement to delay the hearing process has two conditions, that the Board hold the hearing in July or
the week of September 11, 2006 (rather than the next week) and that the Board agree on design drawings
prior to the Town's issuance of an RFP for building the structures.

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Staff Recommendation
The Staff recommends that the Board: 1) authorize the Staff to request an extension of time from the
water court to issue its findings of fact and recommendations; 2) to participate in settlement discussions
with the Applicant and the other objectors; 3) appoint Casey Shpall as a hearing coordinator to coordinate
the schedule associated with a hearing, to the extent necessary, so that the Board can meet the deadline set

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Flood Protection. Water Supply Planning and Finance. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation and Drought Planning