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. . . The Town of Alma. A $13,500 grant was awarded for drought recovery efforts. Alma also will receive funding from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs for the installation of new wells to provide an alternative sub-surface water source for the town's water system. The Town of Bay field, A $50,000 grant was awarded as part of another collaborative effort between the Department of Public Health and Environment and the Department of Local Affairs to assist with the installation and upgrade of a water filtration system to treat the raw water supply tainted by mudflows in the area. The Freeman Creek Pipeline Association. A $5,000 grant was awarded to address erosion issues and help with the restoration of the watershed. Located in southwestern Colorado within the Missionary Ridge bum area, the Freeman Creek Pipeline Association lost both its treatment plant and water intake structure to the Missionary Ridge Fire. As much as $20,000 will be made available to assist with the construction of a new water treatment plant. Douglas H. Benevento, the director of environmental programs for the Department of Public Hr:Jlth and Environment, said, "Wildfires damaged or destroyed a number cDlf water treatment facilitie< ., 1 . Colorado, and the combined effects of drought and wildfires have t3lXed other systems through,,>).! the .. state. Since July, the department's Water Quality Control Division has been offering the technic,;) , expertise of its water quality engineers to operators of damaged water systems at a series of out! each seminars conducted in bum areas. The seminars were designed to inform local water system operators of various techniques to address water quality delivery problems caused by drought ani! wildfires. " Benevento explained that a number of other similar grants, which will include financial and technical assistance, will be announced in the near future. Division 7 Reserved Water Rights Negotiations: The Negotiation Team will meet in Durango on Thursday, November 21,2002 to continue discussing possible settlement terms with the U.S. Forest Service regarding its reserved water right claims on the San Juan National Forest in Water Division 7. The Negotiation Team is made up of representatives from the CWCB, DWR, USFS and local water users who are parties to the litigation. The meeting will focus on the Piedra River Basin and a report from the technical team on strategies for providing reserved water rights, while insuring appropriate opportunities for future water resource development. Another topic of discussion may center on a recent study performed by UtaIJ State University under a Forest Service contract to evaluate instream flow quantification techniques. The CWCB, DOW and BLM staffs recently reviewed this report and believe that it has serious flaws and should not be released until its deficiencies are addressed. A copy of the comment letter that was sent to the Forest Service was also provided to members of the Board under separate cover. The Board will be kept apprised of developments in these discussions by Wendy Weiss, the Attorney General representing the state. Yampa River Basin Issues Little Snake River Compact Investigation: In response to the Three Forks Ranch Corporation lawsuit against the City of Cheyenne and the State of Wyoming, the CWCB, the Colorado Attorney General and the Colorado Division of Water Resources undertook a joint investigation into those allegations. The results of this investigation are currently in a confidential draft report that is being reviewed and discussed internally. We hope to be able to share that report with the Board at the November meeting White River Flow Recommendations: Draft recommendations were received Aug. 5 and are under review. Staffwill discuss these with the Board further at the November meeting. 20