BOARD02129

• Board Meeting Date: 10/31/1973
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

that the question of the inclusion of the Meadows area in the
proposed Flat Tops Wilderness area is not a policy question which
I believe should be before this board. The reason I say that,
one of those books has the constitution of Colorado in it. It says
that the policy of the state of colorado is to follow the doctrine
of prior appropriation. That policy has not been amended. The
prior appropriator of the water in that area which requires the
Meadows site for its use is Rocky Mountain Power Company.

I

The other book back there has a statement of the purposes of the
Water Conservation Board and generally speaking, it is to foster and
encourage the development of water resources within the state, not
to discourage this development and particularly, not to discourage
it through the medium of asking that the Congress of the United
States to preclude such development by such vehicles as wilderness
designations.

Now there has been distributed a letter to you from Mr. Brannan who
is president of the Rocky Mountain Power Company. I do not at this
time represent Rocky Mountain Power Company. I did represent
Rocky Mountain Power Company during the time of the litigation con-
cerning the relative priorities of the Colorado River District and
Rocky Mountain Power Company.

I want to make this a matter of record. Before I undertook to
appear on behalf of Rocky Mountain Power Company, at that time,
John B. Barnard, Sr. was the head of the Colorado River Water
Conservation District. The concern of that district that the water
would be utilized by exchange or otherwise to enhance the diversions
to eastern Colorado required in his views opposition to the Rocky
Mountain Power Company plans. There was another problem that
existed at that time and that was the possibility that requirements
downstream from the confluence of the North and South Forks of the
White River would cause a call on the Yellow Jacket Project, since
it would have a later date of priority than Rocky Mountain Power
Company. A study was made by the board, I think Mr. Morrill actu-
ally did the study, to show that the conflict was of a limited
scope and as a result of that study a stipulation was entered into
under which Yellow Jacket Project decrees would be senior to
Rocky Mountain Power Company's. So that particular point was out I
of the way. The second point was one which was a little more
difficult because the original plan of Rocky Mountain Power Company
had involved the sale of some 20,000 acre-feet by exchange or for .
use by exchange, for diversion to eastern Colorado.

The executive committee of the River District authorized John
Barnard, Sr. and Phil Smith to make an agreement with the Rocky
Mountain Power Company which was made and was approved by the

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