Introduction

Colorado continues to face the challenge of balancing increasing municipal water needs with the protection of agricultural communities. This article in the Colorado Sun about Colorado HB 1340 outlines how the bill will change how Colorado cities buy and dry farm water. It also outlines the reclamation and revegetation duties for water transfer entities.

Excerpts:

Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign the measure, House Bill 1340, after officials from his Department of Natural Resources testified in favor of the bill.

Southeastern Colorado advocates conceded some measures after the bill’s introduction.

• The original bill limited a water use transfer to 50% of the purchased water until 50% of the affected farmland had been successfully revegetated against erosion and deterioration. The bill as passed removes the hard percentage, and gives city water agencies more flexibility when they buy, such as posting a bond or negotiating conditions during local permit applications.
• The initial bill language had a hard requirement for a five-year water court oversight of revegetation after a rights transfer to guarantee reclamation. The bill as passed gives water courts the ability to create an oversight period, but only when there is “a substantial risk that reclamation could regress,” Goble said.
• The final bill gives assurances to Arkansas Valley communities by requiring any reclamation agreements with cities to be written into change-of-use decrees, after the details have been negotiated by an intergovernmental agreement in a permit.

Link to full article: HERE