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River District board over the years providing valuable guidance and direction; and Wayne N. Aspinall who served 16 years in the State House and 24 years in Congress. Aspinall was deeply in. volved in water issues affecting Colorado and the nation for all his life, and affectionately is remembered as "Mr. Chairman" referring to his dedication and leadership as Chairman of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. At the September 24th meeting, Judge Stone challenged the first-term directors: "You folks here are primarily interested in the Colorado River Basin. You are also familiar with the Colorado Compact. I might remind you that it is going to take eternal vigilance to protect this state against the Lower Basin states. The best way to protect ourselves. of course, is to utilize this water in Colorado. The water should be used as far as possible and utilized here in Western Colorado, and where it is used any other place, there should be adequate protect'ion for this slope." Prophetic words proven by the passage of time. The second meeting of the board occurred in December of 1937 at which time Frank Delaney was retained as the Colorado River District's first General Counsel, a position he held until May of 1956. Delaney immediately recommended the board "obtain a good engineer who could give all his time to the work of the District,'. and an executive secretary "who would devote a great deal of time to the business of the board." (In 1938. the board hired the first River District engineer, Frank Merrill, then employed by the Bureau of Reclamation, who agreed to also act as a secretary of the district.) The first resolution passed by the board of directors of the newly formed District came on December 2, 1937. just one of many during the next fifty years opposing transmountain water diversions, "protesting to the Bureau of Reclamation against the granting of right-of-way or special use permits to construct dit- ches and works on the National Forest reserve by Moffat Tunnel Water Development Company to divert water from the Colorado River and its tributaries to Eastern Colorado through the Moffat TunneLif approved...would be a serious threat to the future development of Western Colorado." (The District would launch numerous attacks against speculative water claims in the years to come.) In the late 30's, the newly formed River District board was busy establishing the Colorado River District as an official body and monitoring the development of the protective provisions as perceived by General Counsel. Frank Delaney, of Senate Docu- ment 80. This was the report of the Secretary of the Interior to Congress describing the operation of one feature of Colorado-Big Thompson Project, Green Mountain Reservoir. It stated in part: "That the diversion of this quantity of water from the Colorado River watershed will not interfere with or encroach upon the pre- sent or future irrigation along the Colorado River and tributaries within the state, with the protection provided in Green Mountain Reservoir," Credit the Western Colorado Protective Association and then the Colorado River District with pioneering the principle of compensatory storage or mitigation incorporated in Senate Document 80. These principles would be tested frequently in the ensuing years and prove invaluable protecting West Slope in- terests. There is no written record in the early years that the River District board ever formulated a formal water policy, but certain- ly the direction the District would take in the coming years came at one of their early board meetings. Congressman Taylor was present and shared his philosophy with the board. He was, as always, "unalterably opposed to transmountain diversions unless it was assured without question that all Western Colorado users and rights are fully protected." On another occasion, president of the River District board. John Heuschkel, touched on an important objective of the District in his view. In the audience at the meeting were several Garfield County irrigators who came seeking the board's help with their water problems. Heuschkel, speaking for himself and for the board. said it was their desire to hear from all water users who had proposals for increasing their water supply and wanted help from the District. He continued that one of the most impor- tant purposes of the District was in aiding users who were trying for a better supply of water for their projects. The years provide countless examples where the District has supported users with funding and engineering consultation to further their specific projects. 4 l-'" ~ Co -. .' -J