Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction Fund Project

Colorado water conservation board construction fund - project and loan authorizations - appropriations - transfers. The act appropriates the following amounts from the Colorado water conservation board (CWCB) construction fund (fund) to the CWCB or the division of water resources in the department of natural resources for the following projects:

• Continuation of the satellite monitoring system maintenance, $380,000 (section 1 of the act);
• Continuation of the Colorado floodplain map modernization program, $100,000 (section 2);
• Continuation of the Arkansas river decision support system, $500,000 (section 3);
• Continuation of the weather modification program, $175,000 (section 4);
• Continuation of the Colorado Mesonet, $150,000 (section 5);
• Continuation of the water forecasting partnership project, $800,000 (section 6);
• Acquisition of lidar data, $200,000 (section 7);
• Continuation of technical assistance for the federal irrigation improvement cost-sharing program, $200,000 (section 8);
• Continuation of the Chatfield Reservoir channel improvements program, $200,000 (section 9);
• South Platte river basin groundwater level data collection, analysis, and remediation, $500,000 (section 10);
• Central Colorado water conservancy district - Chatfield reservoir reallocation project, $511,894.20 (section 11); and
• Continuation of the watershed restoration program, $2 million (section 12).

Section 13 directs the state treasurer to transfer $30 million from the loan guarantee fund to the severance tax perpetual base fund on June 30, 2018. Section 14 authorizes the CWCB to loan up to $17,170,000 from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the Pueblo conservancy district to repair the levees within the City of Pueblo to bring the levees up to federal emergency management agency standards. Section 15 transfers $4 million on June 30, 2018, from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the fund for the Chatfield reservoir reallocation project; section 16 appropriates this money to the board for this purpose. Section 17 increases loan authorizations from the severance tax perpetual base fund for the Chatfield reservoir reallocation project in the following amounts:

• Centennial water and sanitation district, an increase of $9,046,267 for a total of $53,486,267;
• Central Colorado water conservancy district, an increase of $1,548,229 for a total of $29,999,929; and
• Castle Pines north metro district, an increase of $1,319,464 for a total of $7,773,364.

Section 18 appropriates $8 million to the department of natural resources from the fund for Republican river matters.

The state treasurer will make the following transfers from the fund:

• Up to $500,000 on July 1, 2018, to the flood and drought response fund (section 19);
• Up to $2 million on July 1, 2018, to the litigation fund (section 20);
• $500,000 on July 1, 2018, to the feasibility study small grant fund (section 21); and
• $2 million on June 30, 2018, to the water supply reserve fund (section 22).

Section 23 appropriates $7 million from the fund to the CWCB for continuing implementation of the Colorado water plan as follows:

• Up to $3 million to facilitate the development of additional storage, artificial recharge into aquifers, and dredging existing reservoirs;
• Up to $1 million for agricultural projects;
• Up to $1 million for grant funding to implement long-term strategies for conservation, land use, and drought planning;
• Up to $500,000 for grants for water education, outreach, and innovation efforts; and
• Up to $1.5 million for environmental and recreational projects.

Section 24 changes a prohibition against using the fund for "domestic water treatment and distribution systems" to exclude only "water treatment facilities".

Section 25 increases the amount of money that the CWCB may authorize the state treasurer to transfer from the fund to the emergency dam repair cash fund from $50,000 to $500,000 and continuously appropriates the money in the emergency dam repair cash fund to the division of water resources in addition to the CWCB for the emergency repair of dams;

Section 26 extends the repeal of the natural hazard mapping fund from July 1, 2018, to July 1, 2019.

Section 27 specifies that the money transferred from the Colorado healthy rivers fund to the fund is continuously appropriated to the CWCB.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)