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, , , . . . , ARCA Preparation. On November 6, I met with the other two Colorado representatives to the Arkansas River Compact Administration (Jim Rogers and Tom Pointon), Hal Simpson, Dennis Montgomery, and our staff to discuss the issues that are expected to arise at the December 7-8,1998 meeting ofthe ARCA. Although there is alot to do at that meeting, there appears to be only one issue of contention, That issue involves proposed amendments to the operation of Trinidad Reservoir, Last year, the Bureau of Reclamation recommended a set of amendments to assist the Purgatoire River Conservancy District and others. Colorado proposed a motion to approve those amendments by Kansas refused and the ARCA agreed to explore Kansas' concerns, In the intervening year, Kansas framed several questions but has not responded to the information it has received in response, At this point, we are still trying to determine whether the Loveland Office of the Bureau of Reclamation (Jack Garner) will continue to support these amendments. Assuming that the Bureau again recommends these amendments, we will be prepared to move their adoption again at the ARCA meeting, ESA Conference. I made a presentation on your behalf at the November 17 conference designed to build broader constituent support for adding funds to the Species Conservation Trust Fund during the 1999 legislative session, I gave an overview of the role the CWCB has played, indicating our efforts are intended to give the Recovery Program-alternative to ESA implementation a fair chance, since it gives states and interested parties greater voice and offers greater opportunity for coordination with our water laws and property rights. I explained that it takes hard work to hold the federal agencies and other participants to the agreements we have made, I described our efforts to balance the need to be hard on the science supporting recovery plans while not being so hard that the Recovery Programs can't make sufficient progress to produce a measure of "regulatory certainty" for resource development I highlighted the need for more state and federal funding if we want to give these less-combative alternatives to regulatory battles and environmental arguments a good chance, I concluded my presentation early with a question for the panel, after indicating that the other role the CWCB plays is to facilitate well informed participation in these discussions among our constituents, It was a very good conference and was sponsored by over 30 diverse interest groups, Hopefully, there will be lots of support for the DNR request for additional funding this year. Water Quality/Quantity. Our next meeting with representatives of the Water Quality Control Commission and Division, the Division of Wildlife and Division of Water Resources is scheduled for January 13, 1999 between lOam and noon, Any other Board members that can attend are invited, Patti Wells has been attending for the past two years (or more?) and Hal and I usually try to attend with a staff member or two depending on other calendars and the topics on the agenda, CWCB Senior Management. The senior staff retreat we organized last summer is still paying big dividends in the strength of our relationships (we had lots of fun, too), Working together in a different setting on different tasks helped us appreciate talent, skills and patterns we don't see as easily in our routine office relations, These benefits are helping us cope with extra workload and the added frustrations of a system in