South Platte Water Storage Study

The act requires the Colorado water conservation board (board), in collaboration with the South Platte basin and metro roundtables, to consider whether to award a grant under the water supply reserve fund to conduct or commission, in collaboration with the state engineer, a storage study of the South Platte river basin.

The purpose of the storage study is to determine, for each of the previous 20 years, the amount of water that has been delivered to Nebraska from the river in excess of the amount required under the South Platte river compact. The study must also include a list of locations that have been identified as possible sites for the construction of a reservoir, enlargement of an existing reservoir, or implementation of an alternative storage mechanism along the mainstem and tributaries of the South Platte river between Greeley, Colorado, and Julesburg, Colorado. For each listed location, the study must include information on the amount of water that could have been stored in a reservoir at the site, based on measured flow existing at the time of the study, a preliminary estimate of the cost to construct a reservoir at the site, and a cost-benefit analysis for any such project. If a grant is awarded for the commission of the storage study, the board, in collaboration with the state engineer, is required to provide a report summarizing the study to the committees of reference in the house of representatives and the senate that have jurisdiction over natural resources matters.

The act is repealed, effective July 1, 2018.

On July 1, 2016, $211,168 is transferred from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the Colorado water conservation board construction fund.

$211,168 is appropriated for the 2016-17 state fiscal year from the Colorado water conservation board construction fund to the department of natural resources for use by the board for implementation of the storage study.

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