HomeMy WebLinkAbout20071806.tiff STATE OF COLORADO
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Department Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 718
Denver,Colorado 80203
Phone: (303)866-3311
TDD: (303)866-3543 DEPARTMENT OF
Fax: (303)866-2115 NATURAL,
T
RESOURCES
Bill Ritter,Jr.
June 13,2007 cOVef"°'
Harris D.Sherman
Executive Director
Bill Jerke
P.O. Box 758
Greeley,CO. 80632
Dear Mr.Jerke,
Enclosed please find a copy of Senate Resolution 07-007, Concerning the use of underground water
banking strategies, adopted by the Colorado Senate during its recently concluded 2007 legislative
session. This resolution is being sent to you in accordance with the provisions contained therein.
Sincerely,
•
Viola Bralish
Administrative Assistant
Office of lnterbasin Compact Negotiations
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2007-1806
�`�.r Board of Land Commissioners•Divilion of Reclamation, Mining&Safety•Colorado Geological Survey
U ,,1 S F•(,7 Oil&Gas Conservation Commission•Colorado State Parks•Division of Forestry
l/ Water Conservation Board•Division of Water Resources•Division of Wildlife
2007
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1876
SENATE RESOLUTION 07-007
BY SENATOR(S) Wiens, Harvey, Brophy, Fitz-Gerald, Kester, May R.,
Romer, Shaffer, Taylor, Tochtrop, and Ward.
CONCERNING THE USE OF UNDERGROUND WATER BANKING
STRATEGIES.
WHEREAS, The Colorado water conservation board's statewide water
supply initiative concluded that, as Colorado's population grows to a
projected 7.1 million people by 2030,there will be a corresponding increase
in water demands, even considering increased reliance on water
conservation and efficiency, of approximately 630,000 acre-feet; and
•
WHEREAS,Presently-identified water supply projects,including water
conservation and efficiency, will supply only about 80% of this increased
demand, resulting in a significant gap between projected demand and
projected supplies; and
WHEREAS, Increasing water storage is crucial to closing this gap, and
underground water storage,including underground water banking,can yield
the same benefits as above-ground storage but with more benign
environmental impacts; and
WHEREAS,In 2006,the General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 06-193
to direct the Colorado water conservation board to conduct a study of the
most economically and technically feasible and ecologically sound
underground storage sites located in the South Platte and Arkansas river
basins; and
WHEREAS,The report from this study was delivered on March 1,2007;
and
WHEREAS, Numerous aquifer areas in the South Platte and Arkansas
river basins were identified in the report for potential aquifer recharge and
underground storage; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-sixth General Assembly of the
State of Colorado:
1. That the Colorado water conservation board is encouraged to conduct
a further evaluation of selected potential aquifer recharge areas on a smaller
and more detailed scale,based on the recommendations from the Senate Bill
06-193 report;
2. That, in conducting the evaluation,the Colorado water conservation
board should consider factors not included in the Senate Bill 06-193 report,
such as potential project stakeholder involvement,project scale and goals,
sources of water, water rights, and water pretreatment;
3. That, in conducting the evaluation, the Colorado water conservation
board should engage such expertise as it deems appropriate, and that the
state engineer, the ground water commission, the state geologist, the
attorney general, the basin roundtables, and the interbasin compact
committee may notify the Colorado water conservation board that they wish
to be included and to participate in the conduct of the evaluation;
4. That, prior to the final completion of the evaluation, the Colorado
water conservation board should submit the draft report to the executive
director of the department of natural resources for a professional peer
review of the methodology,findings,conclusions,and recommendations of
the evaluation, which should take into consideration comments or
recommendations made by the executive director before the review is
finalized and any public report is released; and
5. That, at its discretion, or at the request of the chair of the general
assembly's water resources review committee, the Colorado water
conservation board may submit a preliminary draft of the evaluation with
respect to its peer-reviewed analysis of the evaluation to the water resources
review committee for its information and consideration, in particular with
regard to the need for additional legal parameters to govern priority
administration of underground water banking.
Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be provided to
PAGE 2-SENATE RESOLUTION 07-007
each basin roundtable, the interbasin compact committee, the Colorado
water conservation board,the state engineer,the ground water commission,
the state geologist, and the attorney general.
u
' A f
Joa itz-Gerald aren Goldman
P SIDENT OF SECRETARY OF
THE SENATE THE SENATE
PAGE 3-SENATE RESOLUTION 07-007
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