BOARD02617

• Board Meeting Date: 3/24/2003
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

magnified by extreme drought conditions. The report offers recommendations for improving streams and rivers
by changing public policies at the state and federal levels and reforming individual behavior related to practicing
water conservation at home. The report can be review online 'at WWW.cotrout.org.

Upcoming CWC Events: The next two scheduled Colorado Water Congress events are: .

. The Summer Convention, August 21-22 in Steamboat at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel &
Conference Center.

. 46th Annual Convention will be January 29-30, 2004

CSU Drought Conference Summary: In December we co-hosted a drought conference at CSU. A
summary of the conference may be reviewed online at '
htto:/ /watercenter.colostate.edu/droughtconflFramesConfSunnnarv:htrn.

Watershed Filnd Application: We have posted the new application for funds from the Watershed
Protection Fund on our web site. Applications will be reviewed in July and available funds will be
distributed in September.

Internet Water Saving Worksheet: The Northern Water Conservancy District has prepared a
Municipal Water Savings Worksheet. The worksheet i~ an Excel program designed to allow users to
estimate and calculate water savings using various techniques.

CSU Water Resources Research Institute Newsletter: The current newsletter is available via the
Internet at htto://cwrri.colostate.edu/pubs/newsletter/2002/0ct2002.pdf. It ,contains many research
articles, news summaries and an events calendar.

Arkansas River Basin

Arkansas River Forum: The annual forum is being held at Colorado State University in Pueblo on
March 27-28. The theme of this year's meeting is "Water Your Future." It will focus on areas of
successful cooperation, collaboration, partnering and s~lutions among the river basin's stakeholders. .
Presentations include Water Law, Water Banking, Salt Cedar and Ground Water Augmentation. For
more information contact Robert Appel at [phone]. A link to the forum can also be found on
our web site.

Arkansas Water Bank: The web site for the water bank is now up and running. You can learn more
about it be visiting http://www.coloradowaterbank.org. ·

Lower Ark Water Group Seeks Input: The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District held
community meetings in Pueblo, Rocky Ford and Lamar, seeking citizens' input on what actions the
district should take toward its mission of ensuring that water remains in the valley. The meetings took
place on March 4, 5 and 6. The new district's board is s\Jliciting input from water users and owners,
water agencies and the general public on ways to accomplish its mission, given limited funds. All
reasonable suggestions will be considered in determining the district's long-range plan, according to
acting general manager Richard Hallock.

ARCA 2002 Annual Meeting: Due to scheduling conflicts caused by recent activity in the Kansas v.
Colorado litigation the annual meeting normally held tHe second week in December was conducted by
telephone conference call on Dec. 10, 2002, with an abbreviated agenda. The meeting will be
continued on May 23-24 in Lamar.

Kansas v. Colorado Decisiou: In December 2002 the Special Master announced his decision that the
amount of damages to which Kansas was entitled for depletions during the period 1950-1995 should
be calculated consistent with Colorado's methodology and determined that Colorado's current
obligation is about $28 million, not the $50+ million that Kansas was claiming. The Master's .
determination can be reviewed by the US Supreme COljrt, but the Court has upheld most of his

20