House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources (01/24/2005)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	01/24/2005	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:35 PM to 02:55 PM	Brophy	X
		Gallegos	X
Place:	HCR 0111	Harvey	X
		Hodge	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Hoppe	E
	Representative Curry	McFadyen	X
		Penry	X
This Report was prepared by		Rose	X
	David Beaujon	Solano	X
		McKinley	X
		Curry	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB05-1039 HB05-1123		Amended and Referred to the Committee of the Whole Laid Over

01:36 PM -- House Bill 05-1039

Representative Curry, sponsor, described the provisions of the bill that expands the ability of an owner of an agricultural water right to loan their water right for an instream flows (see Attachment A). She also described the process for making such loans under current law.

The following persons testified on the bill:

01:41 PM -- Sara Duncan, Colorado Water Congress, spoke in support of the bill.

01:41 PM -- Shayne Harvey, Roaring Fork Valley Conservancy, described the mission of his organization that works to preserve riparian habitat in the Roaring Fork Valley. The valley extends from the City of Aspen to the City of Glenwood Springs. He also described the impact of water diversions and droughts on flows in the Roaring Fork River and he spoke in support of the bill.

01:49 PM -- Cynthia Covell, City of Aspen, described the history of the law that allows loans of water rights for irrigation and the expansion of the law in 2003 to include loans for instream flows. She also described the challenge of obtaining a timely drought declaration from the Governor.

01:56 PM -- John Ely, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill because it provides greater local control over the process for loaning water rights for instream flows.

02:02 PM -- Ms. Duncan returned to describe opportunities for public comment in the instream flow loan process.

02:07 PM

Representative Curry closed her testimony and described the drought declaration process. She also described the provisions of Amendment L. 001 (see Attachment B).


BILL:	HB05-1039
TIME:	02:10:09 PM
MOVED:	Curry
MOTION:	Moved Amendment L. 001 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Solano
		VOTE
	Brophy
	Gallegos
	Harvey
	Hodge
	Hoppe	Excused
	McFadyen
	Penry
	Rose
	Solano
	McKinley
	Curry
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB05-1039
TIME:	02:13:22 PM
MOVED:	Curry
MOTION:	Moved to refer HB05-1039 to the Committee of Whole, as amended. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 10-0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Brophy	Yes
	Gallegos	Yes
	Harvey	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Hoppe	Excused
	McFadyen	Yes
	Penry	Yes
	Rose	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	McKinley	Yes
	Curry	Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

2:13 PM

The meeting was recessed.

02:22 PM -- House Bill 05-1123

Representative McKinley, sponsor, described the provisions of his bill that imposes notification requirements on curtailment orders of the State Engineer. He also described a problem experienced by his constituent who failed to notice a curtailment order that had been placed on his well. Due to his oversight of the notice, the constituent continued pumping and was fined over $1,000. He also described the provisions of Amendment L. 001 and its effect on reducing the bill's state fiscal impact (see Attachment C).

The following person testified on the bill:

02:35 PM -- Hal Simpson, State Engineer, spoke in opposition to the bill because it impedes his ability to protect senior water rights from impacts caused by junior water diversions during times of shortage. He also described the duties of water commissioners regarding the administration of water rights. He explained that approximately 12,000 curtailment orders are issued each year for surface water rights and 2,000 are issued for wells. He also expressed concern about the fiscal impact of the bill and Amendment L. 001. Mr. Simpson described the adjudication process for wells and the well pumping rules for the Arkansas River Basin that were adopted in response to interstate compact litigation with Kansas.

02:52 PM

Representative McKinley described the provisions of Amendment L. 001 that changes the required notification process.

02:54 PM

The bill was laid over until Wednesday, January 26 for action only and the meeting was adjourned.