S.B. 08-10 Water resources and power development authority - board of directors - per diem - telephonic meetings. Raises the per diem payment to board members of the water resources and power development authority from $50 to $100. Authorizes board members of the authority to participate in board meetings by using telecommunications devices.
APPROVED by Governor March 13, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date,
see page vi of this digest.
S.B. 08-119 Precipitation collection - interim study. Directs the water resources review committee to study whether the use of precipitation capture and use systems should be authorized.
APPROVED by Governor May 29, 2008
EFFECTIVE May 29, 2008
S.B. 08-221 Colorado water resources and power development authority - issuance of bonds - watershed protection projects - forest health projects. Authorizes the Colorado water resources and power development authority (authority) to issue bonds for the purpose of funding watershed protection and forest health projects. Describes terms and conditions of such bonds and caps bonds at $50,000,000. Permits governmental agencies participating in these projects to specify how the moneys should be allocated by the authority subject to the following:
● Up to 20% may be distributed to the clean energy development authority; and
● The remainder shall be distributed to the state forester.
Restores the ability of the authority to establish debt service reserve funds, and restricts the applicability of such funds to watershed protection projects and forest health projects.
Directs the clean energy development authority and the state forester to use moneys received from the authority for watershed protection projects and forest health projects. Instructs the state forester to use labor, when feasible, from the Colorado youth corps or an accredited Colorado youth corps organization for watershed protection projects and forest and forest health projects. Directs the state forest service to collaborate with water providers, governments, and other interested public and private entities to recommend the use of bond moneys and specifies considerations for making such recommendation.
APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2008
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2008
H.B. 08-1280 Instream flow water rights - use by Colorado water conservation board through contract - protection of owner's rights. Requires the Colorado water conservation board (board) to adopt criteria regarding proposed contracts for the temporary acquisition of instream flow rights. Requires that such rights not be on the division engineer's abandonment list and that the division engineer confirm whether the proposal is administrable. Requires the board to keep records regarding the use of the water. Requires the contract to specify that the water is fully consumable downstream of the instream flow reach. Requires the board to obtain a decree that quantifies the historical consumptive use of the water right. Specifies that the time during which the board uses water rights for instream flow purposes pursuant to a contract shall not be considered as abandonment of the water right.
APPROVED by Governor April 21, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date,
see page vi of this digest.
H.B. 08-1346 Colorado water conservation board construction fund - project authorizations - appropriations. Authorizes the Colorado water conservation board (board) to loan $60,600,000 from the perpetual base account of the severance tax trust fund for construction of the Republican river water conservation district's Republican river compact compliance pipeline. Transfers $1,000,000 from the operational account of the severance tax trust fund to the Colorado water conservation board construction fund (construction fund) and appropriates that amount to the department of natural resources (department) for allocation to the board to finance a tamarisk control cost-sharing grant program. Appropriates $350,000 to the department for allocation to the division of water resources from the construction fund for renovation of existing gauging stations, replacement of outdated collection platforms and upgrading of transmission components of the satellite monitoring system, stream gage flood hardening projects, and data collection efforts related to flood forecasting and warning. Appropriates the following amounts to the department for allocation to the board from the construction fund for the following projects:
● $11,217,060 for the Pagosa area water & sanitation district water activity enterprise Dry Gulch reservoir project land purchase;
● $300,000 to implement the major recommendations identified in the 2002 Colorado drought mitigation and response plan;
● $150,000 for establishing new instream flow appropriations and changing the use of acquired water rights for instream flow use;
● $150,000 to support the Colorado river 7 basin states in undertaking projects and studies looking at short- and long-term options for augmenting the water supplies of the Colorado river system;
● $150,000 for operating expenses and activities of Colorado's representatives associated with either participation or monitoring the Colorado river issues under the Mexican treaty;
● $500,000 for the board to continue the model development phase of the Colorado water needs and alternatives analysis;
● $1,000,000 for the board to continue development of the South Platte decision support system;
● $500,000 for the board to undertake a study to identify issues associated with the administration of state water rights in the Colorado river basin under the terms of the Colorado river and upper Colorado river compacts;
● $250,000 for the board to continue to develop a statewide flood decision support system;
● $175,000 for the board to continue to assist water conservation districts, water conservancy districts, and other water providers with the development of cloud seeding programs;
● $150,000 for the board to continue to participate in a floodplain improvement feasibility study along the Cache La Poudre river in the city of Greeley;
● $100,000 for the board to begin developing and implementing a water adaptation strategy to address potential impacts from climate change and variability on Colorado's water resources;
● $50,000 for the board to participate with the Purgatoire river water conservancy district and the United States Army corps of engineers in a study to determine the actual safe channel capacity of, and remedial measures for, the Purgatoire river downstream of Trinidad dam;
● $100,000 for the board to participate with the southeastern Colorado water conservancy district and the United States geological survey to develop a reliable water quality data network for the Arkansas river basin;
● $400,000 for the board to work with stakeholders within the state of Colorado to explore alternatives to designation of rivers as wild and scenic;
● $65,000 for the board to participate with the United States geological survey in a study to provide high resolution estimates of processes that remove moisture from snowpack in the Colorado river watershed and in the headwaters of the South Platte river basin;
● $84,000 for the board to participate with the United States geological survey in performing ground water flow modeling to optimize pumping locations and rates with respect to model-computed water level declines and storage depletions of the Denver basin aquifer system;
● $30,000 for the board to participate with the Colorado water resources research institute in developing an internet web-based searchable database of agricultural water conservation information and to develop management strategies for Sago pondweed;
● $67,000 for the board to participate with the United States geological survey to present the 2005 Colorado water-use data compiled for the national water use information program of the United States geological survey in a published report specifically for Colorado; and
● $2,000,000 for the board to implement the Chatfield reservoir reallocation project.
Restores the balance of the flood response fund to $300,000. Restores the balance of the map modernization account to $500,000. Changes the reference to the "Oak creek reservoir feasibility study" in Senate Bill 05-084 to the "Oak creek flood control mitigation feasibility study", and deletes a reference to other study participants. Repeals the prohibition on the board using the construction fund to acquire instream flow rights, and continuously appropriates up to $1,000,000 annually that is transferred from the construction fund to a newly-created instream flow fund to pay for the costs of acquiring water for instream flow use. Requires water efficiency plans developed by water providers to fully evaluate certain listed plan elements. Allows moneys previously appropriated for an upper Arkansas river basin decision support system feasibility study to be used for an Arkansas river basin decision support system feasibility study.
Makes specified sections contingent upon House Bill 08-1398 becoming law.
APPROVED by Governor May 29, 2008
EFFECTIVE May 29, 2008
NOTE: House Bill 08-1398 was signed by the governor June 2, 2008.
H.B. 08-1405 Colorado water institute - severance tax trust fund - operational account - appropriation. For the 2008-09 fiscal year, appropriates $500,000 from the operational account of the severance tax trust fund to the water research fund for use by the Colorado water institute.
Makes provisions contingent upon House Bill 08-1398 becoming law.
APPROVED by Governor May 21, 2008
EFFECTIVE May 21, 2008
NOTE: House Bill 08-1398 was signed by the governor June 2, 2008.
|
||||
|
|
||||
The information on this page is presented as an informational service only and should not be relied upon as an official record of action or legal position of the State of Colorado, the Colorado General Assembly, or the Office of Legislative Legal Services.