Date: 04/30/2015

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB15-1178

SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES, & ENERGY

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Adopt amendment L.009. The motion passed without o
Refer House Bill 15-1178, as amended, to the Commi		Pass Without Objection
PASS



03:17 PM -- HB 15-1178

The committee returned from recess. Senator Marble and Senator Sonnenberg, co-prime sponsors, described the provisions of House Bill 15-1178 concerning emergency well pumping of damaging high groundwater. They also distributed Amendment L. 009 (Attachment C) and letters from MaryAnn Perino (Attachment D) and Bryan Bird (Attachment E) that discuss the impact of the rising groundwater on their property. The reengrossed bill establishes the Emergency Dewatering Grant Account in the Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction (CWCB) Fund and transfers $250,000 from the General Fund into the account in FY 2016-17 for implementation of the Emergency Dewatering Grant Program. The CWCB may accept and expend gifts, grants, and donations, but implementation of the bill is not dependent on the receipt of gifts, grants, and donations. The CWCB, in collaboration with the State Engineer, both in the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will develop criteria and guidelines and the accompanying real-time data collection for the grant program. Together they will award grants for emergency pumping of wells permitted for dewatering within or near Gilcrest, Colorado. Grants may be awarded to public entities, private entities, and private individuals. The CWCB will seek input from the South Platte Basin Roundtable on the general costs associated with dewatering and the infrastructure needed to implement the dewatering program. The CWCB and the State Engineer will report annually to the Water Resources Review Committee on the progress of the grant program and make a final report on or before October 1, 2017. The grant program is repealed July 1, 2018.

150430 AttachC.pdf150430 AttachC.pdf150430 AttachD.pdf150430 AttachD.pdf150430 AttachE.pdf150430 AttachE.pdf

The following persons testified on the bill:

03:26 PM -- James Eklund, Director, CWCB, explained that the CWCB does not oppose the bill and discussed funding for the groundwater pumping project.

03:28 PM -- Robert Longenbaugh, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and discussed the impacts of the rising groundwater levels. He also distributed maps of the areas affected by the rising groundwater levels (Attachment F).

150430 AttachF.pdf150430 AttachF.pdf

03:40 PM

The chair closed testimony on the bill. Senator Marble and Senator Sonnenberg closed their remarks on the bill.

BILL:HB15-1178
TIME: 03:40:51 PM
MOVED:Sonnenberg
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.009. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Baumgardner
Cooke
Donovan
Garcia
Hodge
Jones
Scott
Roberts
Sonnenberg
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection



03:42 PM

The sponsors responded to questions from the committee about the need for the bill.

BILL:HB15-1178
TIME: 03:45:28 PM
MOVED:Sonnenberg
MOTION:Refer House Bill 15-1178, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 8-0.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Baumgardner
Yes
Cooke
Yes
Donovan
Yes
Garcia
Yes
Hodge
Yes
Jones
Excused
Scott
Yes
Roberts
Yes
Sonnenberg
Yes
YES: 8 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS




03:46 PM

The committee adjourned.