1999

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-023

BY SENATORS Andrews, Evans, Lamborn, Arnold, Blickensderfer, Congrove, Hillman, Musgrave, and Tebedo;

also REPRESENTATIVES Clapp, Nuñez, Spence, Allen, Dean, Decker, Fairbank, Hefley, Hoppe, Lee, Miller, Scott, Smith, and Spradley.

CONCERNING AN INDEPENDENT PEER REVIEW OF THE FEDERAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PROBABLE MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION STUDY USED BY THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS IN THEIR REDESIGN STUDY RELATING TO THE CHERRY CREEK DAM.

WHEREAS, The terms "probable maximum flood" and "probable maximum precipitation" as used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers are misleading terminology because they are both improbable events with respect to the Cherry Creek Basin; and

WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers has assumed the Cherry Creek Dam will fail following an extraordinarily improbable chain of events; and

WHEREAS, The probable maximum precipitation is a theoretical maximum only and has somewhere between a one in one million to a one in one billion chance of occurring in any single year; and

WHEREAS, The site specific probable maximum precipitation study completed for the United States Army Corps of Engineers by the National Weather Service has erroneously applied meteorological procedures and fails to include documented historical paleo flood evidence; and

WHEREAS, This error is further compounded by the erroneous assumption that the topographic effects of the Palmer Divide will increase the rainfall in the Cherry Creek Basin; and

WHEREAS, The probable maximum flood used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers is more than twice the flood estimates prepared by other dam safety officials; and

WHEREAS, Probable maximum precipitation estimates in the western United States are typically about 3 times the 100­year rainfall event; and

WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers has used 7 times the 100­year rainfall event; and

WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service have refused an independent peer review, even though the federal Energy Regulatory Commission regularly requires such peer reviews as part of its licensing procedures for hydro power facilities at dams, and the Colorado State Engineer has a similar policy for reviews of probable maximum precipitation studies and is currently in phase II of a study funded by Colorado Senate Bills 94­029 and 97­008 to develop an alternative model to predict extreme rainfall amounts for basins above 5,000 feet mean sea level; and

WHEREAS, Such an independent peer review panel should consist of local experts in the fields of extreme precipitation and flood hydrology that have knowledge of Colorado's unique climatological conditions; and

WHEREAS, The March 5, 1999, "peer" review response submitted by the United States Army Corps of Engineers is simply another in­house review prepared by the National Weather Service, is not an independent analysis, and does not address the full range of issues that are typically addressed in a proper independent peer review; and

WHEREAS, The proposed construction of upstream dry dams will displace many Coloradans from their homes and businesses and destroy hundreds of acres of active agricultural land and open space; and

WHEREAS, Any government agency proposal to spend from $50 to $250 million of taxpayer money must be based on data and assumptions that are as accurate as possible; and

WHEREAS, Because all alternatives being considered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers will have substantial negative impact on homes and families near the dam and upstream of the dam and adversely affect property values, the cost of any real estate that would properly be condemned should be included in determining the cost of any alternatives considered; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty­second General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:

That no further funding of the United States Army Corps of Engineers should be provided for the Cherry Creek Basin Study until the United States Army Corps of Engineers completes an independent peer review of the National Weather Service data in order to determine the appropriate design flood for the Cherry Creek Basin.

Be it further resolved, That copies of this joint resolution be sent to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, each member of Colorado's Congressional delegation, the Governor of the State of Colorado, the Commander of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

_________________________ _________________________

Ray Powers Russell George

PRESIDENT OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES

_________________________ _________________________

Patricia K. Dicks Judith M. Rodrigue

SECRETARY OF CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE

THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES