Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB05-062

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Votes:
Action Taken:
Moved a substitute motion to the Judiciary Committ
Moved Amendment L. 012. The motion passed without
Moved Amendment L. 014, as amended. The motion pa
Moved Amendment L. 015. The motion passed without
Moved an amendment to Amendment L. 014. line 3, s
Moved to refer SB05-062 to the Committee of the Wh		TIE
Pass Without Objection
Pass Without Objection
Pass Without Objection
Pass Without Objection
TIE



04:01 PM -- Senate Bill 05-062

Representative Curry excused herself from voting on the bill under House Rule 21c.

04:02 PM

Representative Hoppe, sponsor, described the provisions of SB05-062 concerning the adjudication of recreational in-channel diversions (RICDs). She also distributed Amendment L. 012 (Attachment E), Amendment L. 014 (Attachment F), and Amendment L. 015 (Attachment G).

The following persons testified on the bill:

04:14 PM -- Tom Sharp, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and described the potential impact of RICD's on the ability to provide water for Colorado's growing population (Attachment H). He also responded to questions from the committee about the bill's consistency with the doctrine of prior appropriation.

04:31 PM -- Ted Kowalski, Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), described provisions of the bill (Attachment I) and described the Colorado Supreme Court's March 14, 2005 decision on the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District's RICD application (Attachment J). He also described the CWCB's policy concerning RICDs (Attachment K).

04:46 PM -- Alan Leak, Colorado Water Partnership, spoke in support of the bill and described the growing demand for municipal water. He also identified potential impacts from RICDs.

04:51 PM -- Eugene Buchanan, Paddler Magazine, spoke in opposition to the bill. He also described the growth of the paddling community and the economic benefits from whitewater courses.

04:59 PM -- Peter Van De Carr, Backdoor Sports, Ltd., spoke in opposition to the bill and described the City of Steamboat's RICD application.

05:02 PM -- Glenn Porzak, City of Steamboat Springs, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the Colorado Supreme Court's March 14, 2005 decision on the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District's RICD application. He also described the amount of water needed for certain RICDs and the applicability date in Section 3 of the bill, and responded to prior testimony about the potential impact of RICDs on Colorado's ability to develop its compact entitlement.

05:20 PM -- Jerry Mallet, Chaffee County, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the county's RICD application for a white water park in the City of Salida (Attachment L). He also described the economic benefits of white water activities on the Arkansas River and the county's consultations with water users that may be effected by its RICD.

05:29 PM -- Peter Runyon, Eagle County, Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, spoke in opposition to the bill.

05:33 PM -- Ken Brenner, City of Steamboat Springs, spoke in opposition to the bill and commented on the Colorado Supreme Court's March 14, 2005 decision concerning the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District's RICD application.

05:38 PM -- Kent Vertress, Blue Sky West, spoke in opposition to the bill and expressed concern about the recreational benefit of a 350 cubic foot per-second (CFS) RICD.

05:41 PM -- Drew Peternell, Trout Unlimited, spoke in opposition to the bill and respond to prior testimony about the potential impact of RICD on existing water rights.

05:48 PM -- Mark Robbins, Colorado White Water Association, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the economic benefits of white water parks. He also expressed concern about the effect of the bill's 350 cfs limit and the definition of "diversion structure".

05:52 PM -- Kathy Connell, City of Steamboat Springs, spoke in opposition to the bill.

05:56 PM -- Andrea Benson, Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District (UGRWCD), Gunnison County, spoke in opposition to the bill and responded to prior testimony. She also submitted a letter of opposition to the bill from Karen Shirley, Manager, UGRWCD (Attachment M).

06:00 PM -- Terry Scanga, Upper Arkansas River Water Conservancy District, Southeastern Water Conservancy District, spoke in support of the bill and described the management of the Arkansas River to benefit water based recreation.

06:04 PM -- Jerry Sonnenberg, Coloradoans for Water Conservation and Development, spoke in support of the bill and compared RICDs with other types of water rights.

06:06 PM -- Mathew Evans, Friends of the Poudre, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the benefit of RICDs.

06:10 PM -- Mr. Mallet returned to explain that the Arkansas River Outfitters Association is opposed to the bill.

06:11 PM -- David Lauer, Friends of the Poudre, spoke in opposition to the bill (Attachment N).

06:14 PM -- Kristine Crandell, representing herself, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the future water needs for environmental and recreational purposes identified by the CWCB's Statewide Water Supply Investigation.

06:20 PM -- Mick Ireland, Pitkin County, spoke in opposition to the bill.

06:25 PM -- Peggy Montano, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD), spoke in support of the bill and commented on the Colorado Supreme Court's March 14, 2005 decision concerning the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District's RICD application. She also described the NCWCD's water right for the Colorado-Big Thompson water project.

06:32 PM -- Don Ament, Colorado Department of Agriculture, spoke in support of the bill and described water use in Colorado.

06:41 PM -- Diana Orf, Colorado Mining Association, spoke in support of the bill.

06:43 PM -- Fritz Holleman, City of Steamboat Springs, Chaffee County, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the ability to limit RICDs to certain times of the day. He also commented on the Colorado Supreme Court's March 14, 2005 decision concerning the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District's RICD application and described the CWCB's RICD review process.

06:47 PM -- Chris Treese, Colorado River Water Conservation District, spoke in support of the bill and expressed concern about certain RICDs that claim the entire stream flow. He also explained the duty of water that limits water rights and spoke in support of Amendment L. 014.

06:53 PM -- Christian Campton, Colorado River Outfitters Association, spoke in opposition to the bill and submitted a report on the commercial river use in Colorado 1988 - 2004 (Attachment O).

06:59 PM -- John Shawcroft, Colorado Farm Bureau, spoke in support of the bill and compared RICDs with agricultural water rights.

07:02 PM -- Patti Wells, Denver Water Board, spoke in support of the bill and described the management of Dillon Reservoir.

David Robbins, representing himself, submitted a letter of support for the bill (Attachment P).
Mark Singleton, American Whitewater, submitted a letter of opposition to the bill (Attachment Q).

07:09 PM

Testimony ended and Representative Hoppe closed her remarks.

BILL:SB05-062
TIME: 07:14:05 PM
MOVED:Hoppe
MOTION:Moved Amendment L. 015. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Rose
VOTE
Brophy
Gallegos
Harvey
Hodge
Hoppe
McFadyen
Penry
Rose
Solano
McKinley
Curry
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:SB05-062
TIME: 07:17:16 PM
MOVED:Hoppe
MOTION:Moved Amendment L. 014, as amended. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Rose
VOTE
Brophy
Gallegos
Harvey
Hodge
Hoppe
McFadyen
Penry
Rose
Solano
McKinley
Curry
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:SB05-062
TIME: 07:22:14 PM
MOVED:Harvey
MOTION:Moved an amendment to Amendment L. 014. line 3, strike "MAN MADE OR NATURAL" and substitute "NATURAL FEATURES OR MAN MADE".
SECONDED:Hoppe
VOTE
Brophy
Gallegos
Harvey
Hodge
Hoppe
McFadyen
Penry
Rose
Solano
McKinley
Curry
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:SB05-062
TIME: 07:23:57 PM
MOVED:Hoppe
MOTION:Moved Amendment L. 012. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Rose
VOTE
Brophy
Gallegos
Harvey
Hodge
Hoppe
McFadyen
Penry
Rose
Solano
McKinley
Curry
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


07:26 PM

The committee recessed.

07:32 PM

The committee returned from recess and Representative Hoppe explained that the Colorado Water Congress Supports the bill.

BILL:SB05-062
TIME: 07:33:28 PM
MOVED:Harvey
MOTION:Moved to refer SB05-062 to the Committee of the Whole, as a amended. A substitute motion to refer the bill to the Judiciary Committee failed on a 5-5 vote. The bill was laid over, for action only on Wednesday, March 23, upon adjournment.
SECONDED:Hoppe
VOTE
Brophy
Gallegos
Harvey
Hodge
Hoppe
McFadyen
Penry
Rose
Solano
McKinley
Curry
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE


BILL:SB05-062
TIME: 07:36:03 PM
MOVED:McFadyen
MOTION:Moved a substitute motion to the Judiciary Committee, as amended. The motion failed on a vote of 5-5. [Representative Curry was excused from voting under House Rule 21c.]
SECONDED:Gallegos
VOTE
Brophy
No
Gallegos
Yes
Harvey
No
Hodge
Yes
Hoppe
No
McFadyen
Yes
Penry
No
Rose
No
Solano
Yes
McKinley
Yes
Curry
Excused
Not Final YES: 5 NO: 5 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE



07:37 PM

The committee recessed.

07:44 PM

The committee returned from recess and the bill was laid over for action only on March 23, upon adjournment.