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<br />Duane Woodard <br />Attorney General <br /> <br />Charles 8. Howe <br />Chief Deputy Attorney General <br /> <br />Richard H. Forman <br />Solicitor General <br /> <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />iL11!' ~tutl, of <nolornIlo <br />DEPARTMENT OF LAW <br /> <br />OF"'CE 0,. THE An-OLltNEY GENERAL <br /> <br />STATE SERVICES BUILDING <br />1525 Sherman Street <br />Denver, Coloraoo 00203 <br />Phone 866.3611 & 866.3621 <br /> <br />August 1, 1988 <br /> <br />J. William McDonald <br />Director, Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />721 State Centennial Building <br />1313 Sherman Street <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> <br />AUG 1 2 :oJo <br /> <br />RE: National Forest Instream Flow Claims, <br />Federal Reserved Water Rights. <br /> <br />Dear Bill, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />I have given serious consideration to the Board's recommendation <br />that my office cease all negotiations with the Forest Service on <br />the channel maintenance cases, adopt the position that the Forest <br />Service may not obtain instream flows for channel maintenance <br />purposes, and litigate a test case on one or two streams in Water <br />Division 1. <br /> <br />The Attorney General's Office has entered its appearance in these <br />cases on behalf of the People of the State of Colorado as well as <br />the Department of Natural Resources and all other State agencies. <br />The Legislature specifically appropriated funds to my office to <br />protect the property rights of its citizens in vested appropria- <br />tive water rights from the claims of the federal gvv8rnment. <br />Section 37-60-121.1, C.R.S. (1987 Supp.). The Board may rest <br />assured that my office is prepared to aggressively protect the <br />interests of the State and the rights of its water users. <br /> <br />As the Board also has a statutory obligation to protect and <br />develop the waters of the State for the benefit of present and <br />future inhabitants, I take the Board's position in this matter <br />very seriously. However, before I undertake the unusual step of <br />breaking off all negotiations before knowing what their outcome <br />might be, I would like to examine some of the assumptions made by <br />the Board and point out some potential negative consequences of <br />litigation. <br /> <br />. <br />