BOARD02058

• Board Meeting Date: 7/18/2005
• Description: Report of the Attorney General
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

"

.

Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District
02CW038

The staff memorandum fails to mention that CWCB attorney Susan Schneider has filed a

motion for reconsideration or clarification of Judge Patrick's remand order. She has asked the

judge to allow the very procedure staff requests, presumably because she agrees that procedure is

contrary to the remand order. The motion has not yet been ruled on, Unless that motion is

granted, the water court's remand order is controlling, and this Board will violate the court order

if it adopts the staff recommendation and allows another evidentiary proceeding.

To avoid violating the court order, this Board should not adopt the staffs

. recommendation concerning additional evidentiary proceedings, Rather, it should establish a

briefing schedule and time frame for issuing revised findings and recommendation that is

consistent with the remand order. Ifthe water court grants the pending motion for

reconsideration and allows presentation of additional evidence at a hearing, the Board may then

consider whether it wishes to receive such additional evidence as welL

In either case, this Board must still proceed in a timely manner within the spirit of Senate

Bill 216 ("SB 216"), Although the remand order says that "it is inappropriate for the Court to tell

the CWCB when it shall issue its findings and recommendations," the Board is not thereby given

license to exceed reasonable time limits that are inconsistent with SB 216.

Upper Gunnison suggested in its initial request that the parties submit simultaneous briefs

in time for the CWCB Board to issue its findings and recommendation by September 14,2005, a

-2-