BOARD02111

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

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infestation that is plaguing the state. The meeting was a result of Senator Allard's questioning at a recent
appropriations subcommittee hearing during which Chief Bosworth and U.S. Department of Agriculture
Under Secretary Mark Rey testified.

After the meeting, Senator Allard stated that bark beetle destruction, combined with the severe drought
some Colorado counties are experiencing. add up to a potential for fire that could be devastating. The
bark beetle has destroyed more than 1.5 million acres and more than 7.4 million trees throughout
Colorado. Senator Allard also said that Colorado is ready, willing and able to use any funding made
available, and that thirteen communities have created wildfire protection plans, as the Forest Service
recommended.

Department of the Interior Leads Produced Waters Workshop: On Apr. 4, a two-day workshop in
Fort Collins began to explore the possibility of re-using produced waters. Nearly 200 participants
gathered to discuss whether produced waters could represent a new source of water and in what uses they
would be beneficial. Produced waters are waters brought to the surface during energy extraction and often
are not suitable for irrigation or drinking.

The April 4-5 workshop was sponsored by Colorado State University, the Department of the Interior's
Bureau of Reclamation and U.s. Geological Survey, the Family Farm Alliance, National Institutes for
Water Resources and the Ruckelshaus Institute of Environmental and Natural Resources. Interior's
Bureau of Land Management also is participating.

Colorado Water Congress 2006 Meetings:

The 2006 Summer Convention August 24 - 25, 2006 will be held at the Great Divide Lodge in
Breckenridge, Colorado.. The Program and Registration Form will be posted at a later date at the
CWC website.

ewc Seminar and Workshop Schedule: The Colorado Water Congress prepares a series of
four to eight workshops each year for the purpose of increasing and updating water knowledge
both for the actively involved water community and general public knowledge. The seminar and
workshops for 2006 will all be held in the Colorado Water Congress Conference Room, 1580
Logan Street, Suite 400, Denver, Colorado. The 2006 programs and registration forms will be
posted in late Spring, 2006. CLE credits will be shown on the forms for the workshops when
awarded.

The 49th ewc Annual Convention will be January 25 - 26, 2007 at the DIA Hotel and John Q.
Hammonds Convention Center, 15500 East 40th Ave., Denver, Colorado

Drought Mitigation Planning Grant GuldeUnes: The Office of Water Conservation & Drought
Planning (OWCDP) staff is currently working on developing Guidelines for Financial Assistance to
Covered Entities and Local & State Governmental Entities to Develop Drought Mitigation Plans. Similar
sets of guidelines were adopted by the Board in May 2005 for conservation planning, and July 2005 for
water efficiency projects. The guidelines are intended to establish a criteria and process for awarding
grants to entities for drought mitigation planning. You may recall that HB 04-1365 added the statutory
requirement (g37-60-126.5 CRS.) that calls for the CWCB to provide financial assistance for the
development of drought mitigation plans. Adopting guidelines that specifY how the OWCDP wiII
prioritize the distribution of moneys is an important element of the financial assistance process. The
OWCDP staff intends to bring forward a set of Guidelines for Financial Assistance to Covered Entities
and Local & State Governmental Entities to Develop Drought Mitigation Plans for Board review and
possible adoption at the July 2006 CWCB meeting.

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