Deliberation results of South Platte Task Force
MEMORANDUM
Results of South Platte Task Force deliberations on the proposed recommendations
1. Storage:
New water storage is a necessary and essential component of resolving the water crisis on the South Platte River. Therefore, the South Platte Task Force recommends the support of the expansion and dredging of existing reservoirs and the construction of new reservoirs including underground storage.
Passed 20/1 (for/against) (Stulp and Harvey absent)
2. SPDSS:
The Task Force recommends that continued funding be provided to ensure completion of the SPDSS as soon as possible.
Passed 23/0
The Task Force recommends that the SPDSS team continue its comprehensive study to evaluate the limits of current science and technology to accurately quantify the amount and timing of well pumping depletions to the river with appropriate peer review so as to ensure that policy and law is created on the basis of the best modeling possible.
Passed 16/7
3. The Task Force recommends that legislation is needed for a moratorium to permit pumping for 2008 and 2009, at some realistic level, for wells in plans or who have made application for plans.
Failed 3/20
4. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature enact legislation that would provide more flexibility for the use of excess augmentation credits, only for replacement of current year depletions caused by past pumping, with the notice and comment process and expedited review set forth in 37-83-105, this includes but is not limited to looking at the loan statute (37-83-105) as an appropriate statute within which provide this flexibility.
Passed 17/6
5. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature enact legislation that would allow prepayment of depletions during the winter storage season.
Failed
6. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature empower the SEO to administer aggregated winter depletion replacements in such a way as to prevent injury to senior water rights.
Failed 4/19
7. The Task Force recognizes that there is increasing pressure being applied to the Water Courts in the State, due to competition for water, recent case law and evolving technology. The Task Force has also received testimony from a number of sources that the Water Court process is cumbersome, time-consuming and can be extremely expensive.
Accordingly, the Task Force recommends that the Governor and/or the General Assembly request the Colorado Supreme Court to undertake a study of the Water Courts in the State and identify possible ways to achieve efficiencies, while still protecting quality of outcomes. The study could include consideration of:
- appointment of senior judges as alternate water judges
- permitting the appointment of special masters in water court proceedings – with the possibility that the water court referees could themselves serve in that role
- a requirement that water court referees be professional engineers
- imposition of procedural time requirements in proceedings before the referee, such as application of Rules 16 and 26
- mandatory annual training for water judges and referees both in water law and in the engineering, technological and scientific issues and advancements, in cooperation with the Law Schools, the Water Bar and the State Engineer’s Office
The Task Force further recommends that the Governor and/or the General Assembly establish a date on which the Court should report out its findings, together with any budgetary, statutory or Rules implications of proposed changes.
Passed 21/2
8. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature and/or DNR support any South Platte water entity in pursuing a CREP or EQIP program to the same extent that the State has supported other entities, such as the Republican River Water Conservation District, in pursuing CREPs or EQIP in other parts of the state and the Task Force supports encouraging the Colorado Delegation to amend the farm bill to be more supportive.
Passed 17/6
9. The Task Force recommends that the South Platte Roundtable explore the idea of whether a South Platte Water Conservation District would be of benefit to the region.
Failed 14/8 (McNulty absent)
10. Because the South Platte well rules did not go into effect until 1974 and therefore pumping prior to 1974 did not require augmentation, the Task Force recommends that the Legislature enact legislation providing that augmentation is not required for current depletions caused by pumping prior to 1974.
Passed 17/6
11. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature enact legislation that would allow the temporary use of fully consumable water in decreed augmentation plans through a SWSP without having to amend the decreed plan.
Failed 13/10
12. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature enact legislation that would remove augmentation obligations for wells that are such a substantial distance from the South Platte River that they have small to no impact on the River.
Failed 3/20
13. The Task Force recommends that the Governor and DNR encourage Colorado’s Congressional Delegation to encourage federal funding of the study to reallocate space in Chatfield for more storage.
Passed 23/0
14. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature support by resolution the Yampa River pump-back project.
Failed 10/13
15. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature consider legislation that would expand provisions under the water banking act to allow sources of water other than stored water to be put into a water bank (e.g. changed water rights, underground storage, trans-mountain water) and applied to other decreed water plans as an additional water supply.
Passed 17/6
16. The Task Force recommends that the Legislature continue to support the Senate Bill 07-122 study regarding "alternative to dry up" of agricultural land for banking, fallowing, interruptible supply, and alternative crops which allows partial dry up.
Passed 20/3
17. The Task Force recommends that legislation is needed to require that objectors plead affirmatively facts showing demonstrable injury suffered by the objector attributable to pumping (as certified by qualified engineers) as part of substantive objections to plans for augmentation. This recommendation is in the spirit of Becky Kourlis’ ‘amount of process’ suggestion. (If 2a is undertaken and the result is a better and more accurate quantification of injury from physical data vs. hypothetical data, much of the legal presumption in regards to injury could and would be eliminated.)
Withdrawn
18 . The Task Force recommends that the Legislature enact legislation that would expand the State Engineer's rule making authority to allow water users affected by ground water use rules a reasonable period of time such as five years to file a plan for augmentation and in the interim allow the State Engineer to annually approve a substitute water supply plan if it meets the requirements of the rules.
Failed 12/11
19. The Task Force recommends a Water Credit Bank as set forth by Mr. Montoya.
Failed 2/21
Ideas that were tabled:
Amending 37-80-120 to allow different source of replacement water
Amending 308(4) to allow wells users more time to operate under SWSPs before augmentation plans are filed with the water court.
Changing the law on salvage water
Financial bonding for dry years
Support for the Central Colorado Project
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