BOARD01164

• Board Meeting Date: 3/21/2006
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

3-State Biological Opinion Finalization Work Continues: Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, and the .
Federal government continue to work on finalizing the Biological Opinion ("BO"), a Final Environmental
Impact Statement ("FEIS"), and Record of Decision ("ROD"). Presently, the FWS expects to issue the
BO and FEIS in April 2006, with a final ROD in May 2006. House Bill 1311 passed out of the House
Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, unanimously, and was sent to the Appropriations
Committee.

Central Colorado Water Conservancy District to Host Children's Water Festival: On Tuesday, May
9th, the Children's Water Festicval will be held at AIMS Community College in Greeley, Colorado. The
Festival will promote hands-on and brains-on learning about local water issues to fourth grade students in
the Weld, Morgan and Adams counties.
This one day free event will bring water professionals from around the state of Colorado to provide
presentations and activities about water, water conservation, human health and aquatic life while covering
a wide range of core curriculum areas including language arts, math, science, social studies, visual arts,
and health & wellness.
The festival goals are to teach fourth grade students that water is an essential, limited resource and that
they can take action and to provide teachers with materials and lessons that they can use for years to
come.

If you need any additional infonnation, would like to be a presenter or a volunteer for our event, please
contact either Heidi Musil at hrnusillalccwcd.oTl! or Sherrie Linker at sherlinkerlalccwcd.oTl! or just call
them at the office 970-330-4540.

Denver Water's Spring Watch Is On: On February 8, Denver Water released the first water supply
report and forecast for 2006. The news was no surprise to Denver residents keeping up on the weather: .
Snowpack is approaching record levels, and if nonnal weather patterns hold until late April, the state may
see the most runoff from the South Platte and Colorado River watersheds since the mid-1990s. Denver
Water reported that chances of mandatory restrictions on watering this summer are slim. As happened last
year, Denver Water will provide for wise water use, and rules regarding water waste will be in effect.

With large volumes ofsnowpack comes the risk of flooding. Denver Water's storage system is designed
exclusively for maintaining water supplies and not for flood abatement. The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers has built dams that should protect the Denver metro area from heavy runoff, but the high
country may see above-average stream flows during the thaw. As part of their storage maintenance,
Denver Water will be controlling the release and flow from their dams and taking into account the
potential downstream effects.

The water supply report launches the water department's annual Spring Watch, the period between
February and May when water officials monitor snowpack, reservoir levels, weather patterns, soil
moisture and other factors that ultimately detennine the amount of water available this year for customers'
spring and summer use.

Seminar Explores Options for Nebraska's Water: The future of Nebraska's water resources is in a
state of constant change. Continuing drought, new policy and legislation, lawsuit settlement and
compliance, and funding are all issues currently facing the state. "Exploring Options: Nebraska's Water
Future" addressed these and other evolving issues on March 20at the Kearney Holiday Inn, Keamey,
Nebraska. The seminar focused on the current situation facing the Republican River basin and Nebraska
as a whole, and look to alternatives for the future by discussing:

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