BOARD02469

• Board Meeting Date: 7/18/2005
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

the Rocky Flats Closure (Clean-up) Project. Recent interest by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service in the Board appropriating an in stream flow water right on Rock Creek,
which flows through the Rocky Flats Facility, prompted the site visit. The plan is to
close the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant and convert it into the Rocky Flats
National Wildlife Refuge. The work is currently 95 percent complete. The expected
completion date for the project is October 2005. The goal of the project is to deliver
6,200 acres of unique high prairie habitat from a national liability into a safe asset for the
citizens of Colorado. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and
the EPA set the cleanup requirements for the facility, which exceeded federal and state
environmental standards. The water leaving the site is not a drinking water source but
exceeds the National EPA drinking water standards by 100 times. Staff will be working
closely with Kaiser-Hill and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, DOW and others as the
potential for an in stream flow appropriation on Rock Creek is assessed.

South Platte Forum: The South Platte Forum will hold its 16th Annual meeting, entitled
"From the Headwaters Through the Urban Kidney to the State Line" on October 26-27 at
the Radisson Conference Center in Longmont. Rick Brown will be presenting an agenda
item entitled "Can We Soak the Urban Sponge? - Colorado's Water Future: Statewide
Water Supply Initiative Findings and Recommendations." For additional Forum
information visit their web site at www.southplattet)rum.org.

Bear Creek Labeled"Impaired": In June 2005 the Environmental Protection Agency
designated an II-mile stretch of Bear Creek as an "impaired" waterway because of
conditions harmful to the creek's fishery. Environmentalists and some residents cheered
the decision, saying it will require state regulators to improve conditions for fish.
Specifically, the EPA said, excessively high water temperatures need to come down.

The addition of Bear Creek, and one other stream - Red Mountain Creek in southwestern
Colorado - brings the list of impaired waters to 119 stream segments and lakes, the most
since the state began tracking such problems in 1989. The EPA initially wanted to add
another five water bodies to the list, but changed its view after discussions with the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The state's Water Quality Control Commission - a nine-member board appointed by Gov.
Bill Owens - declined to list the Bear Creek segment as impaired during hearings last
year. But the EPA, reviewing the state's decision, determined there was evidence to
support the listing. The EPA's ruling is significant because it marks the first time in
Colorado that a stream's temperature has been considered a form of pollution.

More data might show the fishery is not harmed as environmentalists and local activists
have claimed, say listing opponents. State officials, too, still aren't certain the stream
needs be added to the list. They argue that the fish kills are directly linked to low flows
tied to several years of drought in the region.

Denver Water Considers Opening Faucet for Others: Denver Water may be able to do
with substantially less water in the future, thanks to lower use among its customers. But

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