Date: 07/20/2015
Final
BILL SUMMARY for Southwest Basin Roundtable Basin Implementation Plan
WATER RESOURCES REVIEW COMMITTEE
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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.