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DRAfT 1/3/90 4;2J.:e p~ .~ e ARKANSAS RIVER BASIN WATER MANAGEMENT PROJECT The State Engineer will be required to promulgate rules and regulations effective in 1996 that will respond to the expected decision by the U.S. Supreme Court confirming the Special Master's recommendations that post-compact well pumping has and will continue to deplete the useable stateline flows. This rule would have to prohibit a post-compact well from pumping unless the well is in an approved plan whereby depletions to the useable stateline flows are replaced in a manner acceptable to the U.S. Supreme Court or a court appointed master. Post-compact well owners or well associati~ns could individually or as a larger organization acquire various sources of water for augmentation of stateline flows. It is suggested that a single umbrella organization may be able to acquire and manage various water resources more _ efficiently and effectively than multiple organizations. This umbrella organization would be established by statute or other legally appropriate means and would be called the "Arkansas River Basin Water Management Project" (ARBWMP). The ARBWMP would have the legal aUthority to buy, sell, lease, or otherwise acquire water on ""~< behalf of its t'lblll~rs. It would be under the control of a Board of Directors representing its various members. It would have staff that would manage land and water resources that it owns. The staff may have to implement dry up and revegetation requirements if irrigated land is acquired. The staff would manage the water resources acquired on behalf of its members to provide augmentation water for replacement of depletions to the Arkansas River within the state as well as at the stateline. - The ARBWMP would coordinate with the Division of Wildlife and Division of Parks and Outdoor