I_WRRC_2021A 10/27/2021 09:06:43 AM Committee Summary

Brett Bovee, Regional Director, WestWater Research, LLC, introduced the presentation (Attachment A).

The committee asked about how conservation easements work with existing water rights.

Ms. Parmar discussed and example of what an existing conservation easement looks like. The committee asked about how the leasing of water rights and how water rights may decrease in some cases.

Ms. Parmar spoke about limiting groundwater pumping as a way to conserve water through conservation easements.

The committee asked about the flexibility of conservation easements and what the costs of that flexibility may be. Ms. Parmar told the committee about what appraisers will look at in terms of the value of the land and how a change in use would impact that value.

The committee asked about negotiating ATMs with nearby municipalities and ensuring that the value of water is maintained for those that own the existing water rights. Ms. Parmar discussed the different aspects of how to capture the present value of water and the future value of water for potential ATMs.

The committee continued to make comments and ask questions about buying and selling water rights.

Amber Pacheco, Program Manager, Rio Grande Water Conservation District, discussed the use of an ATM to have a more permanent solution to meet the water needs in the region. She talked about the potential creation of a water market through an ATM.

The committee asked about the effects of ATMs on existing water users. Ms. Pacheco spoke about how ATMs have to balance having enough water without causing injury to water users.

He told the committee that the next draft of the plan should be released in June 2022. He spoke about the timeline that is set forth in statute for creating the plan.

Mr. Sands spoke about the upcoming "Year of Water" in 2022 and what his team will be doing over the next year to increase awareness of hte plan.

The committee made comments and asked about community engagement. Ms. Ris spoke about their plans to speak to individuals in the communities. She sought the committees comments about how they could do a better job at reaching their individual communities. Mr. Sands discussed how they are working to bring more people into discussions.

The committee asked about how the plan has been impacted by old federal water projects in the state. Ms. Ris said they have not looked back at old projects from the original water plan.

The committee made comments about the importance of the plan and water users' reliance on CWCB and the State Engineer. Members made comments about the potential to include information about projects that have not been completed in the plan with the expectation that more federal dollars can be put towards water projects. Mr. Sands told the committee that they have something like this available to the public currently, but it is still being updated.

The committee reconvened.

Mr. McGrath talked about permits related to dredge and fill practices, and how CDPHE handles the permitting process.

The committee asked about the impact on wetlands. Mr. McGrath spoke about how they are tracking the impacts on wetlands.

The committee asked about the confusion over the WOTUS definition and the history of federal changes. Mr. McGrath told the committee about how confusion has developed over time with the different rules coming from the federal level.

The committee continued to ask about how CDPHE manages different types of streams and water from rainfall. Mr. McGrath told the committee about jurisdictional determination, which guide how certain waters fall under the WOTUS definition.

The committee asked about the change in water quality since the Clean Water Act and about CDPHE requests for legislation. Mr. McGrath told the committee that the department is not pursuing legislation on the topic at this time. He does think there could be something Colorado could do to make it so that the state could handle the changes at the federal level.

The committee asked about the future of the permitting process. Mr. McGrath told the committee that CDPHE is attempting to address potential needs for state gap waters. Ms. Rowan spoke about the future of environmental protection of the waters through a permitting process.

Mr. McGrath discussed where CDPHE would be involved in future legislation and federal rulemaking.

The committee discussed how the state can respond to different rules coming from the federal level going forward.

Michael Gifford, President, Associated General Contractors, spoke about his role in the permitting process as a general contractor.

The committee asked about the definition of a stream related to the map shown on slides 8 and 9 of the presentation (Attachment D). Mr. Funk elaborated on how the streams are defined in the and where the current types of streams exist.

Mr. Funk spoke about the next steps when it comes to the rulemaking process and potential legislation.

Garret Varra, Varra Companies, spoke about the need to mine in certain areas and the need to have a robust process related to a permitting process.

Alex Schatz, Brannan Sand and Gravel Company, spoke about the rulemaking effort at the federal level and how the rules are implemented with the dredge and fill program. He told the committee about the impacts on current projects going on in Colorado.

The committee asked about fines related to permit violations. The panelists said they do not have concerns about fines at this time. Committee members continued to make comments about fines related to dredge and fill permit violations and the Clean Water Act. The panelists spoke about the different permits that they have to pull for different projects.

The committee made comments about how to protect water in Colorado and losing water in different regions.

The committee reconvened.

The committee delayed voting on the letter until all committee members were present.

Chair Donovan discussed the variety of water speculation bills that the committee has drafted.

The committee continued to discuss the bill and water speculation.

Representative Roberts told the committee that he will not be offering Bill 4 today.

The committee took a brief recess.

The committee reconvened.

Bill 1 will start in the Senate and Senator Simpson and Senator Sonnenberg will be prime Senate sponsors. Representative Roberts and Representative Catlin will be prime sponsors in the House. The committee is added as cosponsors.

Bill 2 will start in the Senate.  The prime sponsors will be Senators Coram and Donovan, and Representative McCormick. Senators Bridges and Jaquez Lewis are added as cosponsors.

Bill 5 will start in the Senate.  The prime sponsors will be Senators Donovan and Sonnenberg and Representatives McLachlan and Catlin.  All committee members will be added as cosponsors.

Committee members made final comments.

Committee members agreed unanimously to approve and send the Letter to the Economic Relief Task Force.