Date: 09/30/2009
Final
Water Court Update
WATER RESOURCES REVIEW COMMITTEE
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11:18 AM -- Water Court Update
Justice Hobbs, Colorado Supreme Court Justice, reported to the committee that all of the recommendations of the Water Court Committee have all been implemented (Attachment G). He reviewed the list of recommendations and discussed a variety of products and policy changes that resulted from the recommendations. One of the recommendations led to a newly released publication, "The Non-Attorney's Guide to Water Courts" (Attachment H). He also explained how one of the recommendations lead to the development of a new referee system in the Water Court System and discussed how these new procedures will be implemented. Another recommendation resulted in a new expert witness rule, which will allow water experts to come together in order to narrow issues in water cases by determining facts that can be agreed upon. Justice Hobbs closed by thanking the committee for passing two bills last session that were recommended by the Water Court Committee: SB 09-015, which changed the White River Division from Water Court Division 5 to Division 6, and HB 09-1185, which eliminated a provision requiring that water rights applications be filed in quadruplicate. He answered questions from the committee about the need to provide continuing education courses on issues surrounding produced water. Justice Hobbs additionally distributed a copy of an article he authored, "Colorado: Centennial State at the Headwaters" (Attachment I).
