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<br />(.0 <br />r..... <br /> <br />ro <br />''''i <br />;:) <br /> <br />the Compact and the 1968 United States Supreme Court <br />stipulation. <br /> <br />6. <br /> <br />When all parties had assembled around their various <br />issues in the single case, there were over 200 <br />parties of record, 22 attorneys representing them, <br />and 14 engineers and geologists taking their turn in <br />the witness box. At least 9 separate factions <br />developed and took active roles in the trial. <br /> <br />7. <br /> <br />The Judge, William Eakes, who was the regular Water <br />Judge from the adjoining Division at Durango, <br />pronounced judgment on January 31, 1980, throwing <br />out the Rules and Regulations and disallowing any <br />curtailment of groundwater diversions. The case was <br />appealed and has been briefed and argued to the <br />Supreme Court of Colorado. Its decision is pending. <br /> <br />II. THE TEAM OF EXPERT AND LAWYER <br /> <br />A. The Various Roles of the Expert - The Lawyer's View <br /> <br />In a complex groundwater-surface water case, it ~s <br />obvious that the expert consultants and witnesses take on <br />an extremely important and central position. We have <br />attempted to divide that position into several sub-roles. <br />While these roles are generally fairly obvious, it is <br />interesting to catalog them to permit focus on each. A <br />common theme runs through them all and that is providing <br />the perspective, the whole view of the detail-packed <br />case. The potential for wasting time and talent on some <br />minor side issue is great. <br /> <br />1. Investigator - Basic research into the bibliography, <br />existing data and presently held theories is the <br />crucial starting point. In the San Luis Valley, <br />work of the U.S.G.S. over the preceding decade <br />became the basic starting point; earlier work by <br />geologists Siebenthall and Powell gave important <br />historical perspective. The records of the State <br />Engineer's Office on wells and permits and on <br />surface diversion records provide the bulk of raw <br />data to be assembled. <br /> <br />2. Educator - As important as any function the expert <br />must serve is the education of the lawyer and other <br />team members into the basic technical language of <br />the case. What are the basic definitions and <br />concepts? What is the range and reliability of <br />present data? What are the existing theories and <br />what are their weaknesses? <br /> <br />-3- <br />