BOARD00985

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

One of the valuable things I think about
the Board draft is that it does not foreclose
the adoption by the legislature of any of the
very valuable suggestions which are contained
in the rest of the Director of Natural Re-
sources committee drafts. They are at liberty
to do this. It shouldn't be indicated that
if the Board ultimately approves this draft
that such approval is a rejection of many of
the other valuable things which the committee
has come up with. But those are things which
in my opinion are peripheral. to the p;-imary.
task of integrating ground and surface waters.

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Another thing I think Mr. Geissinger
recognized. and perhaps a valuable addition
to the committee drafts. was the so-called
plan concept. Those of you who have read
the Board draft know that the water users of
each division are urged to propose a plan
Whereby they would voluntarily integrate
their ground and surface water. taking advan-
tage of surface water priority dates. It's
not mandatory. If a person who has a well
and a surface right doesn't elect to. he can
continue to use his surface right but his
well right will have to take its place in
line under the appropriation doctrine which
makes it. in my opinion. of rather minimal
value. So there is a strong incentive here
for water users to work out for themselves
and to present a plan which will make the
maximum use of his water.

There has been in the past some criti-
cism about requiring the companies to use
wells rather than their surface rights. This
doesn't require anybody to do anything. It
is my belief. from living out at the forks
of the creek for a long time. that the water
users are pretty smart people. If they feel
they are going to get more water on the land
by using their wells in conjunction with
their surface rights they are going to do it
voluntarily. You are not going to have to

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