First Regular Session Seventieth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. 15-0741.01 Thomas Morris x4218 HOUSE BILL 15-1167 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Brown, SENATE SPONSORSHIP (None), House Committees Senate Committees Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning a study regarding the creation of additional water supplies in the South Platte river basin. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.) The bill directs the Colorado water conservation board to study the feasibility of supplementing water supplies in the South Platte river basin through the construction of a new reservoir on the mainstem of the South Platte river between Greeley and Julesburg and the importation of water into Colorado from the Missouri river basin. The study must also estimate the volume of water that has been delivered to Nebraska above the amounts required to be delivered by the South Platte river compact and that could otherwise have been stored in the lower South Platte river basin for each of the previous 20 years. The board must provide the water resources review committee and the governor's office with an update concerning the study by October 31, 2015, include the findings from the study in the Colorado water plan, complete the study by December 31, 2015, and provide a summary report on the study to the general assembly and the governor's office by February 15, 2016. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 37-60-115, add (10) as follows: 37-60-115. Water studies - rules - repeal. (10) South Platte river mainstem storage study. (a) The board shall make, or cause to be made, a study of the feasibility of supplementing water supplies in the South Platte river basin through the construction of a new reservoir on the mainstem of the South Platte river and the importation of water into Colorado from the Missouri river basin. The goals of the study are to: (I) Assess the suitability of storage sites on the mainstem of the South Platte river between Greeley and Julesburg, regardless of whether they may previously have been studied, including Tamarack Ranch state wildlife area and the Narrows project near Fort Morgan as referenced in Pub.L. 91-389, taking into consideration that the stored water would be used: (A) For compliance with the South Platte river compact, article 65 of this title; (B) To augment municipal supplies, including by exchange; (C) As a source of augmentation supply for junior groundwater diverters, including for agricultural purposes; (D) Conjunctively with groundwater supplies, including by storing water in the alluvial aquifer; and (E) To reduce the need for the importation of water into the South Platte river basin from other basins in Colorado, including, specifically, the Colorado river basin; (II) Estimate, for each of the previous twenty years, the volume of water that has been delivered to Nebraska in excess of the amounts required to be delivered by the South Platte river compact, article 65 of this title, and that could otherwise have been stored in the lower South Platte river basin; (III) Assess the feasibility of constructing a new reservoir at one or more of the storage sites studied pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a), including consideration of environmental, permitting, water availability, financial, and legal constraints, including those imposed by the South Platte river compact and the "Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other Efforts Relating to Endangered Species Habitats along the Central Platte River, Nebraska"; and (IV) Assess the feasibility of constructing a pipeline to import water into Colorado from the Missouri river basin, including an analysis of water availability; consideration of environmental, permitting, water availability, financial, and legal constraints; and an analysis of potential points of diversion, pipeline routes, places and types of use within Colorado, and places of storage within Colorado, including the sites evaluated pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a). (b) The board shall: (I) Provide the water resources review committee created in section 37-98-102, the governor's office, the executive director of the department of natural resources, and the general assembly's committees of reference with jurisdiction over natural resources with an update concerning the study by October 31, 2015; (II) Include the findings from the study in the Colorado water plan; (III) Complete the study as expeditiously as practicable, but in no event later than December 31, 2015; and (IV) Provide a report summarizing the study to the governor's office and the general assembly's committees of reference with jurisdiction over natural resources by February 15, 2016. SECTION 2. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.