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"1'" I C I; J ,_U ~'.lbl;.; ~dviSOry [Es)oard State Weter Planning and Review Process !'Ift.N1CIP.... Rkh..olH__ o-~ DO"'E~nc A,lmdG6tl...&d ,,_......c"" GROUND \li"nR IllRIGAno.. .....Lo.., c... SIJRF"CE "liATUI: IlO!.lGAnON Do.~._...ca._. "-, U\.'ESTOCX PftOOOCTlQN Jeck"'."fto ............. EM.1RO"'1lIE,..-rAJ. C~L....._ HoI.._ I1'iDlJST1'llA1..CO_E.RClAJ.. 11.......-......- ...~- WlWUfT.. ASH" RfCRtAno.. Rlc.ll_lWw.,. .... h. CONGllES!>IO,,"U DISTRICT E!_Sdol.o~oIf ""n","- bd COI\IGJIESSIQ!'l"'- OISTRJCT WWIa..E..",,1o ......... J... CO!\tGRfSSIONo'\L DlST1llCT ........- "-' Nf.II'I"$I('" "'''''UR,,!. IIIESOUACfS CO......5510,... Xll Cf.HtUII"nAl ......Ll sour.... .. 0 1I0X a..7t . L''-ICOI.'''. "'EIIIIIA$I('" UWI The Honorable Robert Kerrey Governor, State of Nebraska State Capitol, 2nd Floor Lincoln, Nebraska 68509 @]mw ~ JUN 03 1983 ~embers of the Nebraska Legislature Eighty-Eighth Legislature First Session State Capitol Lincoln, ~ebraska 68509 COLORADO WATER C~:~S~~I/.d.T:O~~ e'J.:'.~D Governor Kerrey and Members of the Legislature: In accordance with its statutory responsibility under Section 2-3287 R.S. Supp. 1982, the Public Advisory Board has reviewed the report of the ~atural Resources Commigsion entitled "Riparian Rights" and the Commission's recommendations on the alternatives contained in that report. The members of the Public Advisory Board understand the Commission's concerns about registration of riparian rights. However, we disagree with the Commission's conclusion that registration would create more problems than b~nefits. To the contrary, the Public Advisory Board believes that our water resources cannot be properly planned or administered unless the extent of all claims to those resources is known. At present the extent of riparian claims is not known. We recommend, thererore, that the Legislature adopt and implement Alternative "2: "Legislatively require registration of riparian water right claims with the ~ebraska Department of Water 1esources, establishing that any other riparian water u~es are not legally sanctioned, and making failure to register a forfeiture of any water right claim." I I I ~e are not at this time recommending that action on riparian rights go beyond registration of those rights. The registration process, once completed, will provide the state's policy makers with a good information base upon which to decide if adjudication and integration of the riparian claims into the appropriative system should also be accomplished. We do not believe that decisi~n can be properly ~aJe unless registration first Occurs. The "Riparian Rights" report identifies and describes a number of subalternatives for Alternative #2. These subalternatives provide the Legislature with different ways of implementing Alternative ~2. They relate to: (I) what land qualifies as riparian land; (2) what are valid water uses for purposes of a riparian claim; ()) whether the water must have actually been used at some time in the past; (~) whether such use must have involved a physical diversion of water from :he stream; (5) and whether riparian claims for stockwatering purposes ought to be exempted from registration requirements. The Public Advisory Board makes the following recommendations regarding those subalternativ~s. ~