Water Resources Review Committee (07/20/2015)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

WATER RESOURCES REVIEW COMMITTEE

Date:	07/20/2015	ATTENDANCE

Time:	06:00 PM to 07:48 PM	Arndt	X
		Baumgardner	E
Place:	Durango Holiday Inn	Becker J.	X
		Coram	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Hodge	X
	Senator Roberts	Jones	X
		Mitsch Bush	X
This Report was prepared by		Sonnenberg	E
	Greg Sobetski	Vigil	X
		Roberts	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Call to Order and Announcements Overview of the Second Draft of the Colorado Water Plan Southwest Basin Roundtable Basin Implementation Plan Public Testimony		- - - -

06:00 PM -- Call to Order and Announcements

Senator Roberts called the meeting to order and presented the charge of the Water Resources Review Committee. She also described Senate Bill 14-115, which tasks the committee with collecting public feedback on the Colorado Water Plan. She invited members of the public to direct their comments specifically to Chapter 10 of the water plan, which presents a critical action plan. She invited individuals who preferred not to testify to provide feedback on the Water Resources Review Committee website.

06:08 PM

The members of the committee introduced themselves.

06:12 PM -- Overview of the Second Draft of the Colorado Water Plan

James Eklund, Director, Colorado Water Conservation Board, presented the second draft of the Colorado Water Plan. He suggested that a state water plan is necessary to prepare for dry years, such as those currently impacting California. He then identified changes to the Colorado Water Plan between the December and July drafts, including the expansion of the critical action plan in Chapter 10 (Attachment A), inclusion of elements from basin implementation plans, addition of a stretch goal for municipal water conservation and efficiency, identification of nontraditional funding sources, promotion of additional opportunities for outreach and education, and other changes.

Attachment A.pdf

06:28 PM -- Southwest Basin Roundtable Basin Implementation Plan

Michael Preston, Chair, Southwest Basin Roundtable, highlighted outcomes of the House Bill 1177 study that have impacted the Southwest Basin Implementation Plan. He also credited the governor's proclamation with effecting a worthwhile planning process, and thanked the General Assembly for its involvement through Senate Bill 14-115.

06:33 PM

Mr. Preston presented the Southwest Basin Implementation Plan, which features approximately 120 Identified Projects and Processes (IPPs), including about 60 storage and infrastructure related IPPs and about 60 environmental and recreational IPPs. Basin priorities include additional storage projects to benefits municipal and industrial use, including reservoirs on the San Miguel and San Juan rivers. He identified Water Supply Reserve Account funds as having been critical to previous projects in the basin. Chairman Preston also commented on the statewide water plan. He discussed sources of funding, saying that these had grown in the second draft of the plan and are now more clearly identified.

06:38 PM

Mr. Preston spoke on transbasin issues. He identified the Colorado River as a unifying multibasin concern, and spoke in opposition to the use of transmountain diversions as a means of combating the loss of Eastern Slope agricultural lands. He highlighted the statewide plan's affirmation of certain principles, including the prior appropriation doctrine, compact compliance, local control, and additional storage. Members of the committee received a letter from Jennifer Russell, a representative of San Miguel County on the Board of Directors of the Southwestern Conservation District, objecting to the district's proposed future use allocation concept on the grounds that it jeopardizes the value of instream flow water rights (Attachment B).

Attachment B.pdf

06:47 PM

Senator Roberts encouraged members of the public to participate in the planning process through testimony.

06:50 PM -- Public Testimony

06:50 PM

Judy Garrigues, Dolores Conservation District, spoke on the history of her district. She stated that the district has become more important in times of increased scarcity, particularly with respect to soil health.

06:52 PM

Travis Custer, Dolores Conservation District, stated that a small increase in organic matter could result in a large increase in groundwater storage capacity. He spoke in support of the sections of Chapter 10 that call for improved soil health, and called for the endorsement of farming practices including rotational fallowing. He advocated additional language identifying conservation districts as partners, in addition to the state and federal agencies in Chapters 6 and 9.

06:57 PM

Kate Greenberg, National Young Farmers Coalition, distributed materials from her organization to members of the committee (Attachment C). She called for emphasizing the need for an educational assistance program that encourages young people to choose careers in farming. She stated that the statewide average farmer age is over 60, and suggested that access to land and capital need to be improved. She also spoke in support of the integration of water and land use planning.

Attachment C.pdf

07:02 PM

Ed Millard, representing himself, called for discussion of a target population considering constraints on the state's water resources. He stated that Colorado is planning for overbuilding and overdevelopment, and that the state should instead target a smaller, sustainable population that can allow for preservation of the state's quality of life. He also asked for page 3 the Southwest Basin Implementation Plan to be rewritten to make it easier to understand. He stated his concern that instream flows in the Southwest Basin were being used to meet compact obligations while allowing additional transmountain diversion of water from other basins.

07:06 PM

John Ott, representing James Ranch and Animas Water Company, spoke in favor of additional soil health preservation, calling it an effective means of storage.

07:08 PM

Dick Ray, representing Archuleta County Farm Bureau, spoke in opposition to additional growth and development in Southwest Colorado. He suggested that Colorado is approaching its human carrying capacity, and called for a slower pace of growth.

07:16 PM

Bruce Whitehead, Executive Director, Southwest Water Conservation District, spoke in support of additional reservoir storage. He identified additional reservoir storage as the primary way to meet future demand, and spoke in favor of placing reservoir storage in the Front Range where demand is growing. He also spoke in favor of the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP), a storage project in Larimer County.

07:19 PM

Steve Harris, Member, Interbasin Compact Committee, spoke in support of a sales tax increase, at a rate of less than 1 percent, to fund water infrastructure projects. He suggested that an increase could be approved by voters if the tax were identified as being levied specifically to address water needs. He also explained that a 70 percent indoor, 30 percent outdoor goal is realistic because of the rapid growth of residential development in the Denver area.

07:30 PM

Jake Gardanier, Southwest Farm Bureau, asked why the state should not build additional reservoirs in the South Platte Basin. Representative Becker stated his agreement with additional storage in principle, but spoke in favor of higher mountain reservoirs in order to allow use by downstream Colorado residents. Senator Hodge called for the integration of land and water use planning on the Front Range, particularly with respect to the development of new residential subdivisions, and called for flood mitigation.

07:34 PM

Don Schwindt, representing himself, asked whether the committee had prepared a response to the statewide water plan, and how the plan would be used in the future. Senator Roberts replied that she views the outcome of the plan as calling for a reallocation of resources at a time when the state faces other obligations to education, Medicaid, non-water infrastructure, and other needs. She stated that there was no clear way to stop additional in-migration to the state. Representative Coram spoke in support of water salvaging. He also called for the return of money used for the General Fund budget to the severance tax allocation, and called for the exploration of nontraditional water solutions, like pumpback. Representative Mitsch Bush said that the statewide water plan promotes dialogue, but that the current draft plan appears to lack funding mechanisms. She suggested that the state may need to seek either tax revenue or bonding authority from voters. She spoke about the inevitability of a Colorado River Compact call, and spoke against the creation of new transmountain diversions for this reason.

07:46 PM

John Porter, representing Southwestern Water Conservation District, stated that Referendum A had failed because voters perceived it as a top-down approach without clearly identified projects. He suggested that grassroots approach might generate more support from voters.

07:47 PM

Senator Roberts thanked Director Eklund and Governor Hickenlooper for their involvement of the General Assembly in the water planning process, and thanked the audience for their attendance.

07:48 PM

The meeting adjourned.