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Arkansas Basin Roundtable <br />Meeting of December 1, 2005 <br /> <br />Meeting Notes <br /> <br />The meeting notes attempt to follow the agenda. <br /> <br />1. The meeting commenced at 1:00 pm. Chairman Alan Hamel asked that each roundtable <br />member take a few minutes to introduce themselves a nd state their interests and concerns as a <br />participant. Some of the topics mentioned include: <br /> <br />- Water transfers and the impact on water quality (mentioned by several members) <br />- The public trust nature of water rights, the changes in societies’ values wit h respect to <br />uses of water, environmental and recreational, and stewardship for future generations <br />- Development of new/unappropriated water and the impact on Colorado’s interstate <br />compact obligations <br />- The cyclical nature of the economies of mining and th e effect on water rights held by <br />mining interests, i.e. abandonment under the Prior Appropriation Doctrine <br />- Recreational use of water for fishing and floating, maintaining healthy river systems in <br />the basin <br />- Augmentation of new uses versus mitigation of water transfers for those uses <br />- Export of native supplies <br />- Education of the public <br />- Potable water in the lower Arkansas Valley <br />- Uniformity of codes as related to water uses, for example, exempt wells versus non - <br />exempt wells <br />- The economic impact of wat er transfers to Front Range municipalities versus the <br />maintenance of a viable agricultural economy <br />- Learn more about each other and the impact of compacts on each area of interest <br />- Preservation of rural lifestyles <br />- Understand the dynamics of water quali ty over the length of the Arkansas River <br />- Identifying water solutions that have broad support and favorably impact the economy of <br />Colorado as a whole <br />- The linkage between water and the future of Colorado <br />- Embrace the opportunity to come together around collaborative, principled solutions <br />- The importance of municipal water providers to act responsibly with respect to their <br />stewardship of water <br />- The need for storage, both high - altitude and multi - basin types of storage <br />- Preservation of the Prior Appropri ation Doctrine <br />- Foster understanding of out - of - basin uses of Arkansas river water including a) <br />mitigation, b) efficient farm practices, c) economics of rotating fallowing and other <br />alternatives to permanent agricultural transfers, d) additional storage, a nd e) cooperative <br />projects <br />