Date: 04/16/2015
Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB15-212
SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES, & ENERGY
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06:20 PM -- SB 15-212
Senator Sonnenberg, sponsor, described the provisions of Senate Bill 15-212 concerning storm water facilities. He also distributed Amendment L.001 (Attachment R) and Amendment L.002 (Attachment S). This bill specifies that storm water detention and infiltration facilities, and post-wildland fire facilities that detain water for environmental and public safety purposes, do not injure vested water rights. Water detained by these facilities cannot be applied to any beneficial use or used to form the basis for any claim to or for the water. A storm water detention and infiltration facility is owned or operated by a governmental entity or an operator that is subject to government oversight. The facility operates passively and is designed to continuously release or infiltrate all of the water from rainfall events greater than a 5-year storm as quickly as practicable, but in no event over 120 hours. For rainfall events equal to or less than a 5-year storm, water must be released or infiltrated within 72 hours.
150416 AttachR.pdf
150416 AttachS.pdf
A post-wildland fire facility mitigates the impact of wildland fires, is not permanent, and must be removed or rendered inoperable after the emergency conditions created by the wildfire are no longer present. It is designed and operated to minimize the quantity of water detained and the duration of the water detention to the levels necessitated by public safety and welfare. Under current law, a water right holder can claim injury against the owner or operator of a water detention facility covered by this bill. With this bill, if a facility meets the requirements of the bill, it does not legally cause injury to vested water rights.
The following persons testified on the bill:
06:22 PM -- Kelly Sloan, Mesa County, spoke in support of the bill.
06:25 PM -- Donald McBee, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the bill and distributed a letter of opposition to the bill from Jackie McClaskey, Secretary of Agriculture, Kansas Department of Agriculture (Attachment T).
150416 AttachT.pdf
06:29 PM -- Glenn Wilson, Amity Mutual Irrigation Company, spoke in opposition to the bill.
06:31 PM -- Keith Goodwin, Otero County, spoke in opposition to the bill.
06:37 PM -- Burt Heckman, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the bill.
06:39 PM -- Dale Mauch, Fort Lyon Canal Company, spoke in opposition to the bill.
06:45 PM -- Josh Weimer, Fort Lyon Canal Company, spoke in opposition to the bill.
06:47 PM -- Nick Koch, Town of Cheraw, spoke in opposition to the bill.
06:51 PM -- Dony Hansen, Holbrook Mutual Irrigation Company, spoke in opposition to the bill (Attachment U).
150416 AttachU.pdf
06:54 PM -- Henry Schnabel, Prowers County, spoke in opposition to the bill and discussed the importance of stormwater runoff from Fountain Creek to irrigators in the Arkansas River Basin.
07:02 PM -- Colin Thompson, District 67 Irrigating Canals Association, spoke in opposition to the bill and spoke in support of Amendment L.001 and Amendment L.002.
07:11 PM -- John Schweizer, Catlin Canal Company, spoke in opposition to the bill.
07:13 PM -- George Allen Frantz, Catlin Canal Company, spoke in opposition to the bill.
07:15 PM -- Dennis Caldwell, Otero and Highline Canal Company, spoke in opposition to the bill.
07:17 PM -- Bob Longenbaugh, representing Dan Farmer, spoke in opposition to the bill and proposed amendments to the bill. He also responded to questions from the committee about potential amendments to the bill related to wildfires and the concerns of the State of Kansas.
07:24 PM -- Mark Arnusch, Colorado Farm Bureau, spoke in support of the bill if Amendment L.001 and Amendment L.002 are adopted. He also responded to questions from the committee about the bill and the amendments.
07:29 PM -- Sallie Clark, El Paso County, Colorado Counties, Inc., spoke in support of the bill and discussed the threat of flood runoff from lands affected by wildland fires in El Paso County. She also distributed a letter of support for the bill from the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments (Attachment V).
150416 AttachV.pdf
07:36 PM -- Ken MacKenzie, Urban Drainage Flood Control District, spoke in support of the bill and distributed handouts that identifies runoff from various landscapes (Attachment W). He also explained how stormwater detention basins are designed to hold flood events and distributed a list of local governments in Colorado that support the bill (Attachment X).
150416 AttachW.pdf
150416 AttachX.pdf
07:48 PM -- Bennet Raley, Urban Drainage Flood Control District, spoke in support of the bill and Amendment L.001 and Amendment L.002.
08:00 PM -- Kevin Bommer, Colorado Municipal League, spoke in support of the bill.
08:01 PM -- Doug Kemper, Colorado Water Congress, spoke in support of the bill.
08:03 PM -- Richard Orf, Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado, spoke in support of the bill and distributed a letter of support from the AGNC for the bill (Attachment Y).
150416 AttachY.pdf
08:05 PM -- Kevin Rein, Deputy State Engineer, Division of Water Resources, spoke in support of the bill and explained how the division administers stormwater detention facilities. He also spoke in support of the bill and Amendment L.001 and Amendment L.002.
Robert Nickelson, President, District 67 Irrigating Canals Association, submitted a letter that expressed concern about the bill and requested several amendments to the bill (Attachment Z).
150416 AttachZ.pdf
08:10 PM
The chair closed testimony. Senator Sonnenberg closed his remarks on the bill and requested that it be laid over.
08:14 PM
The committee adjourned.