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BENJAMIN F. ST.o\PLETON Chairman. Cenver FREDERICK V. KROEGER Vice.Chairman. DuranllO ....$,,- la", ."""'''. , " FELIX L. SPARKS Director LAREN D. MORRLlL DeputY Di rector JOHN T. BENTON Burns JOHN H. BROWNEll Hooper JOHN R. FETCHER Steamboat Springs C. M. FURNEAUX Walden RICHARD D. LAMM Governor ROBERT A. JACKSON Pueblo DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD HERBERT H. VANDEMOER Sterling 823 ST ATE CENTENNIAL BUILDING 1313 SHERMAN STREET DENVER. COLORADO 80203 TELEPHONE {:J>31 892-3441 . DAVID LEINSDORF Crestod Butte April 14, 1977 2493 M E M 0 RAN DUM TO: Members, Colorado Water Conservation Board and Colorado Water Congress Executive Committee FROM: FelixL. Sparks, Director SUBJECT: Status of Various Bills in the Colorado General Assembly 1. Ap~ropriations to the Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction Fun. The appropriations bill reported out this week by the Joint Budget Committee contained no funds for the construction of small projects throughout the state through the board's construction fund. This was crushing news to such communities as Dove Creek, Rico, Hayden, Keenesburg and others, where a desperate situation exists concerning domestic water supplies. The Governor had approved funds for three projects, but that approval was ignored by the Joint Budget Committee. The request for construction funds was from mineral leasing funds so that the general fund would not be impacted. This board was instrumental in getting the Federal Mineral Leasing Act amended to provide that funds under that act could be used for water and sani- tation facilities. The use of that fund was previously limited to roads and schools. There is currently an accumulated balance of approximately 67 million dollars in the mineral leasing fund. It there- fore appears to be logical and proper that at least a small portion of that fund be used for urgently needed small water projects throughout the state. The rationale of the Joint Budget Committee in this matter is beyond comprehension. In view of the intensive state effort now being directed to the continuation of federal funding on reclamation projects with a total cost of over a half billion dollars, it appears that the state of Colorado loses all credibility in the water resource field when the state government refuses to support even a minor portion of water resource development in the state. For the small projects that this board had proposed, we have tentative commitments from federal agencies to the extent of over 10 million dollars to assist in their construction. The state cost for these projects would be considerably less than 10 million dollars. In every case, the federal contribution towards these projects was dependent upon state support.