BOARD01810

• Board Meeting Date: 5/22/1995
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources

STATE OF COLORADO

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721 State Centennial Building
1313 Shennan Street
Denver. Colorado 80203
Phone [phone]
FAX [phone]

Roy Romer
Governor

JamesS.Lochhead
Executive Director. DNR
Danes C. Lile. P.E.
Director, CWCB

MEMORANDUM

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

Daries C, Lile ~"'-/C__/

FROM:

DATE:

May 9, 1995

SUBJECT:

Agenda Item #3 May 22-23, 1995, Board Meeting --
Director CWCB Report

The following is a summary of major activities of the Director since the March 13-14, 1995
Board Meeting.

. Arkansas River:

We are continuing to meet with the Coordinating Committee to seek solutions for the water
management problems in the Arkansas River. We attended the hearing before the U.S. Supreme
Court on March 21, 1995 in Washington, D.C. The case is now being considered by the full
court and we will probably have a ruling in June or early July 1995. David Robbins and Dennis
Montgomery did an excellent job in preparing for and presenting Colorado's position before the
court and I wish to compliment them on their efforts. The court displayed a surprising
knowledge of the issues surrounding the ArkMsas River. The Justices asked numerous questions
of both the KMsas attorney and Colorado.'s. It was difficult to keep the court focused on the
issues which Colorado wished to argue, and David Robbins was able to respond to the court's
questions and then return to his presentation quite effectively. In contrast, Kansas' attorney had
difficulty in making his arguments because of the continuing questions by the court.

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In my opinion the water users in the Arkansas are beginning to make progress. Three significant
developments have occurred: first, the Southeastern District has established a committee to
evaluate the possibility of coordinating the augmentation of wells within their district service area;
second, the Lower Arkansas Management Association has obtained options for a block of water
for augmentation purposes; and third, the augmentation subcommittee has developed
recommendations for the State Engineer on Rules and Regulations as well as a long-term
recommendation for the state as to what their preference would be for the repayment of any debt
to Kansas if the Supreme Court requires Colorado to pay Kansas in water. We will be having
a more detailed presentation on the Arkansas River during the Board meeting Tuesday afternoon.