BOARD00976

• Board Meeting Date: 11/22/1999
• Description: 2000 Legislative Session
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natura! Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.dnr.state.co.us/cwcb

Q

Bill Owens
Governor

MEMORANDUM

Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director

TO:

Colorado Wat~onservation Board Members
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Peter Evans and Dan McAuliffe ~.,.I'-.
November 16, 1999

Peter H. Evans
CWCB Director

FROM:

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

DATE:

RE:

Agenda Item 5, November 22-23, 1999 Board Meeting-
2000 Legislative Session

. The following legislative proposals are being discussed:

Emen!:encv Flood and Drought Response Bill

Since returning to the DNR in 1990, I have experienced repeated incidents where the
CWCB's capacity to respond to the emergency needs of communities and land owners that have
been significantly affected by flooding has been limited because the agency does not have ready
access to a source of funding for data collection and technical assistance.

Larry Lang can provide many details related to flood events for many more years than 1.
Tommy Grier, the director of the Colorado Office of Emergency Management, has also verified
that a lot of useful information and many opportunities are is missed because even small amounts
of money are not available in the days, weeks and months immediately following a flood event.
The problem has been that emergency funds from the state's Disaster Emergency Response Fund
(24-32-2l06 C.R.S.) and from federal emergency sources do not become available for two to five
months after a flood emergency occurs. Response funding has also been dependent upon a state
or federal disaster declarations based upon damage assessments. We believe responding to
disasters would be expedited if money were available prior to an official declaration. Funds
could also be used to allow the CWCB to address the impacts of periodic flooding that does not
reach the proportions of a declared disaster. Similar delay in the availability of emergency
funding is also expected to occur in the event of a serious drought.

In response, we recommend that the Board work with the DNR Executive Director
to seek a legislative sponsor and support legislation in the 2000 session of the Colorado
.. General Assembly to create a "flood and drought emergency response account" within the