BOARD01008

• Board Meeting Date: 1/27/2004
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

.

el

that this is a working document and should be improved periodicaJly. We must commit ourselves
now to work together and better understand our future water needs. I would also like to say
thanks to the hard working staff that carried this project to fruition."

To review a copy of the first draft of the comprehensive state water plan approved by the
Interstate Stream Commission, it can be downloaded from the website for the Office of the State
Engineer, at www.ose.state.nm.us .

The Office of the State Engineer reviewed the plan, members of the Water Trust Board, and the
Interim Legislative Committee on Water and Natural Resources before coming before the
Interstate Stream Commission for final approval.

The Office of the State Engineer and the Interstate Strearn Commission intends to use the state
water plan as a strategic planning document. The plan will continue to be refined as individual
regional water plans are completed. Also, the Office of the State Engineer will continue to
consult with individual Tribes and Pueblos at their request regarding their specific water issues.

The Office of the State Engineer is charged with administering the state's water resources. The
State Engineer has power over the supervision, measurement, appropriation, and distribution of
all surface and groundwater in New Mexico, including streams and rivers that cross state
boundaries. The State Engineer is also Secretary of the Interstate Stream Commission and
oversees its staff.

The Interstate Stream Commission is charged with separate duties including protecting New
Mexico's right to water under eight interstate stream compacts, ensuring the state complies with
each of those compacts, as well as water planning.

Domenici to Push for River Sanctuaries: With an eye on a continuing severe drought in New
Mexico, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici has said he intends to push for the creation north of
Albuquerque of near-natural sanctuaries adjacent and connected to the Rio Grande to support the
endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow. These semi-natural habitats would be kept wet when
there is no practical way of fulfilling the low end of the 2003 biological opinion that is now the
legal standard for addressing the minnow's needs.

San Juan River Basin

ALP Contract Award: Reclamation has announced that Weeminuche Construction Authority
(WCA) has been awarded a $17,814,300 construction contract for constructing certain elements
of Ridges Basin Dam. WCA, a commercial construction enterprise owned and operated by the
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Reclamation will provide current information on construction activities
at www.uc.usbr.gov, then click on the Animas-La Plata Project icon.

Southwest Colorado Instream Flow Workshop Regarding the 2005 ISFNLL Work Plan:
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) has historically conducted a statewide
workshop in Denver in late winter to consider possible new instreanl flow and/or lake level water
rights throughout the state. On December 3,2003, CWCB Board member Don Schwindt and
CWCB staff, Dan Merriman and Mark Uppendahl, along with Jay Skinner (CDOW) and Roy
Smi.th (BLM) participated in an instream flow workshop in Durango, Colorado. The purpose of
this workshop was to consider possible new instream flow and/or lake level appropriations for
the_souJh',\'estJlaJ1oIthe state incll!ded within th~ boundarie~oftl1e Southwest District (1oc<l!~d
in Archuleta, Dolores, Montezuma, San Juan and San Miguel Counties and parts of Hinsdale,
Mineral and Montrose Counties). The workshop provided a forum for local entities (cities,
towns, water districts, fishermen, etc.) and interested members of the public to participate in
discussions regarding new instream flow and lake level appropriations. This workshop also
provided staff an opportunity to meet with local entities and review existing instream flow water
rights within the SW District and to educate those entities on unfamiliar concepts,

23