BOARD02111

• Board Meeting Date: 5/16/2006
• Description: CWCB - Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Federal and Intentate

Ditch BIU Update - In our continuing effort to keep the Board apprised of the progress by the U.S. Forest .'
Service on the issuance of Ditch Bill Easements and the issues surrounding this task the following
information is provided:
Ditch BIU Progress as of 5/5/2006
I. Of the 1,041 Ditch Bill applications open on or after January I, 2005, 198 have been closed.
a. 99 Easements have been issued.
b. 83 Ditch Bill applications did not qualify for an easement.
c. 16 Applicants choose to retain water storage/transmission rights that pre-date the
National Forests in lieu of a Ditch Bill Easement.
2. The Forest Service is developing protocols for consistent and fair Ditch Bill Easement application
processing in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
a. The protocols will speed the processing of Ditch bill Applications that have special
circumstances.
3. The first cooperative meeting between the Forest Service and the Colorado Department of
Natural Resources was held on April I? Topics discussed included:
Face to face recovery agreement meetings.
a. Ditch Bill processing protocols
b. Forest Service and State data sharing.
c. Cooperating to revise a standard Forest Service Dam Administration clause to be
consistent with Colorado Dam inspection frequencies.
4. Face to face Upper Colorado River endangered fish recovery meetings with Ditch Bill Applicants
have been scheduled in Grand Junction (May II), Glenwood Springs (May 24), and Silverthorne
(May 25) to discuss recovery agreements Ditch Bill applicants are being asked to sign. The
recovery agreements bridge the gap between the Endangered Species Act, and the Ditch Bill .
while placing no [mancial or administrative burden on Ditch Bill Applicants.

Note: This information was provided by Jeffery L. Ulrich. Region 2 Ditch Bill Coordinator. If you have
any questions or require further information, you may contact Mr. Ulrich at:
Jeffery L. Ulrich, R2 Ditch Bill Coordinator
740 Simms Street
Golden, CO 80401
303-275-5091
ilulrich(jj;,fS.fed.us

Letter ofInquiry from Colorado Congressman John T. Salazar (dated February 28, 2006) and
USFS response (dated March 10, 2006) - This item can be found in the attachment section at the
end of this report.

Forum Says Governments Must Improve Water: On Mar.22, representatives of 148 countries
announced that governments, not private companies, should take the lead in improving public access to
safe drinking water, representatives at the end of a forom on improving global water supplies.
The seven-day forom focused much of its attention on the developing world's growing reliance on bottled
water bought from private companies. Worldwide, the industry is now worth about $100 billion per year.
Anti-(;orporate forces and other critics say governments should instead be improving tap water supplies.
The forum's declaration does not specifically mention privatization, but states that "governments have the
primary role in promoting improved access to safe drinking water."

John W. Keys III Resigns from BOR: On March 17, then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced
the resignation of John W. Keys III, effective April 15, as Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. .

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