Senator Sonnenberg, prime sponsor, discussed the provisions of Senate Bill18-170 concerning reservoir releases for fish and wildlife mitigation. He also distributed Amendment L.001 [Attachment A]. The introduced bill establishes a water court process by which a storage water right owner may dedicate releases from new capacity in a reservoir to the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in order to reasonably avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts on fish and wildlife within a qualifying stream reach, if certain conditions are met.

Eric Wilkinson, General Manager, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, spoke in favor of the bill and distributed a map of the Northern Integrated Supply Project [Attachment B].  He explained that a similar bill, Senate Bill17-282 was postponed indefinitely by the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Committee.  He explained that state law requires fish and wildlife mitigation plans for certain water projects and discussed the mitigation plan for the Northern Integrated Supply Project, also known as NISP.  He also responded to questions from the committee about NISP and measures to protect other water users on Cache la Poudre River.

Donna Brosemer, Greeley Water, North Weld County Water District, spoke in support of the bill.

The chair closed testimony and Senator Sonnenberg closed his remarks on the bill.