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MOSES, WITTEMYER, HARRISON AND WOODRUFF, P.C. <br />LAW OFFICES <br />2595 CANYON BOULEVARD, SUITE 300 RAPHAEL J. MOSES <br />RICHARD J. MEHREN BOULDER, COLORADO 80302 (1913-2011) <br />CAROLYN R. STEFFL CHARLES N. WOODRUFF <br />JENNIFER M. DILALLA TELEPHONE: (303) 443-8782 (1941-1996) <br /> FAX: (303) 443-8796 <br /> _______ INTERNET: www.mwhw.com COUNSEL <br /> JOHN WITTEMYER <br />ALISON I.D. GORSEVSKI DAVID L. HARRISON <br />WILLIAM D. DAVIDSON JAMES R. MONTGOMERY <br />JOHN E. PECKLER TIMOTHY J. BEATON <br /> <br />00187068-1 <br />December 14, 2018 <br />By email <br /> <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />Lauren Ris, Deputy Director <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 718 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />lauren.ris@state.co.us <br />Re: LAWMA’s comments on Super Ditch/CS-U Pilot Project Proposal <br />Dear Ms. Ris: <br />In accordance with the Colorado Water Conservation Board’s (“CWCB”) Criteria and <br />Guidelines for Fallowing-Leasing Pilot Projects (“Criteria and Guidelines”), this letter provides <br />the Lower Arkansas Water Management Association’s (“LAWMA”) comments on Lower <br />Arkansas Valley Super Ditch Company, Inc.’s (“Super Ditch”) and Colorado Springs Utilities’ <br />(“CS-U”) (together, “Applicants”) November 16, 2018 pilot project proposal (“Proposal”). <br />As CS-U’s partner in an innovative water-sharing agreement put into place in 2018, <br />LAWMA unreservedly supports the purpose of the Proposal. However, as summarized below, the <br />Applicants have not yet met a number of the minimum requirements set forth in the Criteria and <br />Guidelines. CWCB therefore should conserve resources—CWCB’s, the State Engineer’s, and <br />interested parties’—by tabling consideration of the Proposal until the Applicants have provided all <br />such required information. If CWCB decides to select the Proposal in spite of its violation of the <br />Criteria and Guidelines, LAWMA respectfully asks that CWCB document why specific Criteria <br />and Guidelines are not applicable to the Proposal; and that CWCB refuse to accept any pilot project <br />application that does not meet all of the minimum requirements for both proposals and <br />applications. <br />LAWMA’s comments on and concerns with the Proposal are as follows: <br />1. Specific water rights to be used as sources of supply in the pilot project <br />The Applicants have not yet met the minimum requirement for a proposal to identify “the <br />specific water rights to be utilized by the pilot project and the ownership of those water rights.” <br />Criteria and Guidelines § II.F.1.a. The Proposal does not identify any Fort Lyon Canal Company