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,.;>- The Capitol Reporter March 6, 1995 Page 9 Water Resources Water lIlove drowns in House Ag Transfer funds would've gone to origin basin BY TAD RICKMAN !he Capitol Reporter A move to allocate funds generated from potential out- of-state water transfers to the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority was sent down the river by the House Agri- culture Conunittee. Rep. Tim Foster, R-Grand Junction, said his bill, HB 1240, would do nothing to existing export law but would allocate the money generated from potential out-of-state fees to the basins from which the water originated, Foster added that killing the bill would not alleviate concerns about future water transfers. Despite Foster's argu- ments, the committee killed the bill 8-5 over worries that, among other things, the bill -would promote sales of Colorado water to other states, with Colorado coming out on the losing end, Ray Christensen of the Colorado Farm Bureau said he opposes the bill as well as the whole water export statute that it comes from. "If we 'get into the business of exporting water, where does that put individual water rights?" Christensen said between hearings, "If we start opening up the door for individuals to sell their water to out-of-state interests, we're really going to be damaging our own econo- my and any chances that we might get to put our own water to beneficial use," Christensen said. Chris Paulson, a lobbyist for the Roan Creek project, attacked the position that Foster's bill encourages water exportation. Paulson said the export statute was passed in the first place because there was no previous law regulat- ing water exportation, "None of the people who oppose this bill now, or would like to have you believe that Representative Foster's bill will somehow facilitate the export of water, opposed the export bill in 1983," Paulson said, He added the reason they didn't oppose it was the export law of 1983 replaced a bill, ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, which required states to export water. The export bill became law, Paulson said, because it attempts to regulate water exports for the benefit of Colorado. After the hearing, Christ- ensen said he understands the position that HB 1240 doesn't change the export law other than saying the bill's proponents want to collect more money on water trans- fers to out-of.state interests if water is sold. But, he added, "I think some of the legal opinions (from the testimony) were, in fact, that this could reaffirm or signal the fact that Colorado is interested in exporting water." Responding to questions by Rep. Peggy Lamm, D. Superior, about his interest in this bill, Paulson said water exports are going to happen sometime in the future, and it would be foolish for Colorado not to prepare for it. "We're talking about Colorado's future," Paulson said. "We're talking about 10 or 15 years from now when something is going to happen and all of us are out of office: :~~~~i~ HB 1240 In favor: Dyer, D; Chlouber, R; George, R; Gordon, D; Taylor, R. Opposed: Acquatresca, R; Armstrong, D; Entz, R; Jerke, R; Lamm, D; Musgrave, R; Reeser, D; Salaz, R. General Fund (Colorado Leglslatural Allocetlon Per ResIdent FTE Student, 1993 Colorado Public Higher Education co Nort~m cc AWn. CC FronIFY.n~CC NorthMsl:.m Jr. COl .... co M~IlCo-.g. R-' Roe:a CC CCo/Auro", PI.. PMk CC ArapahOlCC CC of o..w... ""l'Oelllle _ec .-- Fl~"~~; UC-O MOIlI"'CC use UNC WlAlmS\lle Ada"" Stm. Tlfnkfed Slate UC-B Larnt.rCC csu OIIfOJr.College co SdI00J Of MJn. 1\!I~~ ~ ~Itft\y", <C .,~(dl<!])lI1l ]]J) )I,.-~--..R WHY? ,SOOB> ".. -J Caprlol Reporter F~e ?holo Arkansas River Valley farmers are seeking a bill to let them borrow money from the Colorado Water Conservation Board for valley water projects to allow them to continue to be able to irrigate their crops. Arkansas Valley wants to keep wells flowing Farmers seek. loan money for water projects in case Kansas suit takes it away By TAD Il1CKMAN !he CopKol Reporter Witnesses packed the House Agriculture Committee room to testif'y in support of a water pro. jects loan bill. HB 1155 by Rep. Jeannie Reeser, D-Thomton, would authorize the Colorado Water Conservation Board to borrow money from the board's construction fund for water resource projects. The bill awaits action in Appropriations after pass. ing the committee unanimously in the recent hear- ing, "!'his bill ... just authorizes loans to be made on projects," Reeser said, "and it has a section to de- authorize loans that have been paid off," Most wit- nesses came to support a sucCessful amendment that would help defuse a lawsuit against Colorado by Kansas, which will be heard next month by the U.S. Supreme Court. Colorado has accumulated about 1,700 wells in the Arkansas River Valley for agricultural purposes, Kansas claims in the Supreme Court suit that those wells have dried up much of the Arkansas River flow- ing into Kansas in violation of the 1949 Arkansas 'River Pact between Kansas and Colorado. 10 order for people in the Arkansas River Valley to augment the river flow, they need the $1.5 million loan provided in the amendment to buy water from other sources, witnesses said. Bob Tempal of Prowers County said the Arkansas River Valley economy consists primarily of agricul- ture with 300,000 acres of irrigated land, "I think this loan is the only way we can actually settle our differences with the state of Kansas," Tempal said. Bill Grasmick of Lamar, representing the Lower Arkansas Water Management Association, supported the Arkansas River loan amendment because, he said, now is a good time to buy water to augment the river flow. "I feel that we are in a very critical position as far as trying to find the water that we need for augmen. tation," Grasmick said. "Timing is fairly good right ';. now, There is not a lot of competition out there right now buying water. The prices are reasonable." He said that if the loans were delayed a year or two, the resources would probably be gone. "I wanted to address ,the fact that we're asking here for a million and a half dollars," Grasmick said. "I hope everyone realizes that will not, by any means, cover the needs that we will have in the future. We're going to probably have to come back once we can get the resources lined up we need for a full augmenta- tion plan and ask for a loan in the future: Grasmick added that he believes it's absolutely necessary for the agriculture business in the Arkansas Valley to continue pumping wells. ,..,. ,]> .~ $5 trout stamp swims ahead A $5 annual fishing license trout stamp is an attempt by Rep, Lewis Entz, R-Hooper, to raise money to "bring streams back to life and to make streams desirable to fish in," Entz told the House Finance Committee. It passed it to the House floor, which then referred the bill to Appropriations because it would generate income. The bill would create the $5 annual stamp, a fee to be paid of top of the $20,25 fishing and hunt- ing license fee to fish for trout in state streams. The estimated $1 million generated yearly would go to upgrading streams and trout habitats, The House Agriculture Committee referred lIB 1288 by an 8.5 vote to the House Finance Committee because of the additional intake of money the bill would provide to the state. so $1000 S2000 $3000 $4000 S5000 seooo $7000 Dollars Per FTE Resident Student SOuIQa: COIondoCGm'llIllkln on ~E4l~ r- "We're trying to keep these streams in good shape," Entz told the Finance Committee, "We feel like there aren't enough dollars being spent on this issue." He testified that the bill is not for restocking fish but to rehabilitate stream vegetation and to move rocks to facilitate flow and habitat. In earlier testimony to the Agriculture Committee, lIB 1288 was praised by members of Colorado Trout Unlimited, who said Colorado streams are in dire need of improvement. ...s The bill, however, was denounced by two wit- nesses speaking for many fishers who believe it is one more move toward pricing the average angler out of Colorado stream fishing. - 1bd Rwkman and Lisa Schreiber ""