BOARD00985

• Board Meeting Date: 2/5/1969
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

I see no point in going through the bill
item by item. Although we have a new draft
as of yesterday. nothing basic has been
changed since the original draft went out
some two or three weeks ago. We have had
experts. including a former Supreme Court
judge and others. go over it for constitu-
tional matters. for procedural matters and
things of that type. Our purpose was to make
this bill conform to the legislative direction
to the best of our ability.

I

It is not the function of this Board to
enact any legislation. Such is solely the
function of the Colorado General Assembly.
The only responsibility we have. as a part of
the executive department. is to make recommend-
ations to be transmitted to the Governor. I
don't believe we can ever say that any bill
that has been prepared under our direction
is the sole solution to the water problems
of the State of Colorado. For all of us on
the staff of the Board. many years of work
and thought have gpne into the preparation
of our draft. The same is true for the bill
drafted by others.

We have recognized. we think. in. our
bill the existing system exactly as it is.
with the recognition that we must now bring
in groundwater as an integrated part of the
system. This we propose to do where possible
by bringing in existing uses of groundwater
under the color of previous decrees. We think
this is possible and is legal. because
actually much of the groundwater exists' only
because of surface irrigation. We feel that
when a surface appropriator has diverted
water upon his land and raised the water
table. he should have a right to continue to I
use that water for a beneficial use by pump-
ing. as long as there is no material injury
to other appropriators.

To implement such a system we have a