March 10 , 2004 Minutes-Board Meeting

A meeting of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District Board of Directors was held on Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 10:00 A.M., at 801 Swink Avenue, Rocky Ford, Colorado, 81067.

After roll call, President Mauch announced a quorum was present.

DIRECTORS PRESENT:
Leroy Mauch- President
John Singletary-Vice President
Pete Moore-Treasurer
Ollie Ridley - Secretary

Loretta Kennedy
Melissa Esquibel
Wayne Whittaker

DISTRICT STAFF:
Julie Scaplo-General Manager
Kim Chavez-Administrative Coordinator
Janet Arenas-Temporary Receptionist

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS:
Chairman Mauch welcomed each of the visitors during the Water Activity Enterprise meeting. The visitors introduced themselves and identified the organization they represented.

VISITORS PRESENT:
Rodney Baird, La Junta Tribune Democrat; Michael Gates, Rocky Ford Daily Gazette; Phil Reynolds, SECWCD; Rachel Merrill, CWPDA; Anthony Mestas, Pueblo Chieftain; Gilbert W. Werdel, Retired; Terry Tompkins, County Worker; Doug Melcher, Farmer; Tom Musgrove, BOR; Brenda Fillmore, AGUA; Doris Morgan, Senator Allard's Office; Dannie McMillan, City of Lamar; Virgil Cochran, Lamar Daily News; John Knapp, USDA-NRCS; and Kevin Salter, KDA-DWR.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Chairman Mauch asked if the Board members had reviewed the minutes for the February 11, 2004 Board Meeting. Director Mauch asked whether there were any corrections or additions to the minutes. Hearing none, Director Wayne Whittaker moved to approve the February 11, 2004 Board Meeting Minutes, seconded by Director Melissa Esquibel. Motion unanimously carried.

TREASURER'S REPORT:
A listing of checks for payment of invoices received following the previous Board meeting was presented to the Board for review. Treasurer Pete Moore reported that the financial report for the month of February was included in the Board's Monthly Meeting Packet. He reported February total revenues at $95,955.80 with expenditures totaling $101,274.46. The Board examined the listing and reviewed the reconciliation of bank accounts for the past month, whereupon a motion was made by Director Moore, seconded by Director Loretta Kennedy and unanimously carried to ratify payment of bills represented by check numbers 1549 through 1586. The approved financial report will be attached as permanent record to the minutes.

GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT:
General Manager Julie Scaplo discussed the following items:

• District leases: The District has tentatively leased all but 68 shares of Twin Lake water. In addition, the 50 shares of Fort Lyon Canal water and Lower Arkansas Water Management Association (LAWMA) shares will also be leased. The contracts are complete and are awaiting signatures.
• Meeting Updates:
  • The meeting of the Arkansas Valley Conduit was held March 9, 2004; at yesterdays meeting the advisory committee members were picked.
  • A copy of the Legislative update is included in the Board packet
• Senator Allard's Office: Doris Morgan with Senator Allard's office gave a brief update on the Arkansas Valley Conduit legislation moving through Congress. Senator Wayne Allard introduced a bill on behalf of the conduit, which seeks cost-sharing authorization. Doris Morgan, speaking on behalf of Senator Allard, said that Sen. Allard would like the conduit committee to consider another avenue of funding like that of the Army Corps of Engineers. Since Senator Allard sits on the Water Resource Development committee which handles funding for the Army Corps of Engineers projects, this may be a method of speeding the project along. SECWCD General Manager, Jim Broderick, will be in discussions next week with the Bureau of Reclamation to discuss this possibility.
• Expo Scheduled: The Arkansas Valley Water Irrigation Expo is scheduled for March 12, at the 4-H building located at the Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds in Rocky Ford. The Expo will be held from 9 am to 4 pm. As advertised, anyone wanting to participate in the Expo is welcome and should contact our District office.
• Cloud Seeding: The Cloud Seeding project that LAVWCD participated in with SECWCD and UAWCD ran from November 2003 thru February 2004.
• SECWCD Director: A copy of the letter endorsing Carl McClure for Director of Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District was received at the LAVWCD office from Crowley County Commissioners.

  WATER ACQUISTION:
  Director John Singletary gave an overview regarding the following information:

• Contracts ready to sign: The contracts are ready for signature from the following parties: CWPDA, AGUA, Town of Fowler. There are 68 shares of Twin Lake Shares that are not leased.
• Cuerno Verde Subdivision Conservation Easement: Director John Singletary reports that he has been contacted regarding a possible deal for a Conservation Easement on a 40-Acre parcel of land, which includes 35 Bessemer Ditch Shares.
• Larkspur Update: Director Wayne Whittaker reports that the lease option agreement between Larkspur Ditch and LAVWCD is not complete. The LAVWCD voted to lease the ditch with maintenance of the ditch being LAVWCD's responsibility. Mr. Gilbert Werdel addressed the Board regarding his services. Mr. Werdel estimates total acre-feet per year could be up to approximately 300 AF. The ditch needs some maintenance and the ditch will need to be cleaned out. Mr. Werdel plans on viewing the ditch this weekend and will return with a video of the area. Director Wayne Whittaker, who is also Secretary of the Catlin Canal Company asked to be excused from further discussion, since he owns shares in both the Larkspur and Catlin Canal.
• Ark River Forum: The Ark River Forum was held in Canon City, Colorado on March 4 - 5th. General Manager Julie Scaplo attended the forum, which she thought was very informative. The forum will be held next year in Trinidad, Colorado.
• Tamarisk workshop: Vice Chairman John Singletary will attend the Tamarisk Workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico March 31-April 2.

LEGAL REPORT:
Mr. Bart Mendenhall reported on the High Plains litigation pending final filings of all motion of summary judgment and equity filing, which will be coming up soon
The resolution the Board requested to support HB-1040, which concerns the requirement to mitigate effects of a diversion on the basin of origin, HJR-1009, Concerning an Environmental Impact Study of the impacts from water diversion out of the Arkansas River Basin pursuant to contracts requested by Aurora with the Bureau of Reclamation and a resolution opposing SB-118, Concerning the exclusion of land within a designated ground water basin from a water conservancy district. The resolutions are created and will be attached to the minutes.

Bart Mendenhall has amended the Bylaws of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, in which the suggestions from the Board were incorporated. The Rule of Order, as suggested by Director Pete Moore has been added to the Bylaws. After some discussion Director Wayne Whittaker suggested the correction of item 11 on page 2 regarding meeting place,. Director Loretta Kennedy moved to approve the revised Bylaws to include the latest revision, seconded by Melissa Esquibel. Motion unanimously carried.

The notices are being published regarding the 24 Petitions filed with the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District February 11, 2004 seeking exclusion from the District. The Petitioners are asking to have their land excluded from the District on the grounds that the lands are included within a Ground Water Management District. Anyone interested in testifying in support or opposition are notified to appear in the District Office located 801 Swink Ave, Rocky Ford, Colorado at 10:00 AM, showing cause in writing why the Petition should be granted.

NEW BUSINESS:
Mr. John Knapp with NRCS would like the District to help sponsor a drip irrigation workshop this summer. Mr. Knapp gave a short summary regarding an annual report for Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) 2003 funding and land treatment priorities by watersheds. The Lower Arkansas region has received $12,712,998 compared to Lower South Platte's $7,484,538 for conservation program that provides technical and financial assistance to farmers and ranchers. EQIP funds are distributed within Colorado's 10 watershed areas. The allocation of funds to each watershed was determined by NRCS based on the percentage of the identified five major resource concerns in each watershed. The percentages were based on resource data and workload analysis conducted by NRCS.

The NRCS annual meeting is scheduled for March 24, 2004 at Casa De Sol located in La Junta, which will be a celebration for Bob Appel's leadership and the Ark River Forum.

Mr. Knapp also discussed drought management workshops, called the Integrated Strategies For Drought Recovery scheduled for March 18, 2004 at 10:00 am - 3:30 pm, at Otero Jr. College. Item of discussion will be Assessment of Range Condition, Drought Mitigation Strategies, Grazing Animal Nutrition and Performance, and Economic Outcome of Restocking Choices.

The Irrigation improvement main areas would be drip irrigation and sprinklers. This summer there will be 19-20 sprinklers installed, which are funded by cost sharing and 50% match from USDS. There will be approximately 20-drip irrigation systems installed this spring. NRCS has hired an Engineer to help with the irrigation improvements in the valley. In closing, Mr. Knapp would like the people to know there is a small amount of Bureau money allotted for Drip Irrigation projects.

Motion: Write a letter to the Legislators asking for funds that will benefit the farmers and will provide tools to assist the valley, created by Julie Scaplo and Mr. John Knapp. Motion by Loretta Kennedy, seconded by Ollie Ridley. Motion unanimously carried.

Tom Musgrove with Bureau of Reclamation discussed Long Term Excess Capacity, and how it Works. The Bureau has been issuing Long Term Excess Capacity contracts since the 1980's. Long Term Excess Capacity will allow a municipal entity to store non-project water in its carryover project space on a long-term, If and When basis. The carry over project storage space for municipalities within the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District is allotted in four groups- Fountain Valley Authority, Pueblo, Arkansas Valley entities East of Pueblo, and Arkansas Valley entities West of Pueblo. The entities may store their project water that they are allocated each year in this space, free of charge until May 1 of the year following allocations. If the entity does not use all of its project water during the year, it may continue to store that water subject to evaporation loss and a Carryover Surcharge to help pay for Safety of Dams charges and to the Enterprise O&M account for future O&M charges. In many years this space that is reserved for Project water goes unfilled and unutilized. Therefore, there is space available to store other eaters. Currently, entities are allowed to request and purchase one-year If & When storage contracts for non-project water. Water stored in this space is subject to spill before any other water in the project, but after the spill of If & When water stored by out of basin entities.

The McBee Family, (D & D Farms), would like the District to accept their third conservation easement; previously the District has accepted two conservation easements from the McBee Family in 2003. Mr. Mark Weston, who is reviewing all conservation easement appraisals submitted, has reviewed the appraisal. Mr. Bart Mendenhall recommend the acceptance of the third conservation easement from the McBee Family, (D & D Farms), subject to change of sentence wording and written approval from Mr. Mark Weston. Director Wayne Whittaker moved for acceptance of D & D Farm Conservation Easement subject to the two issues, seconded by Director Melissa Esquibel. Motion unanimously carried.

PUBLIC FORUM:
Mr. Douglas Melcher of Southern High Plain Ground Water Association & Management would like a listing of the deficiencies found with the petitions by District Counsel Bart Mendenhall. Mr. Mendenhall had previously informed them that some of their petitions were improperly acknowledged, however further advice should come from Mr. Melcher's attorney.

Doris Morgan passed out some literature regarding The Allard Capital Conference that will be held June 16-18, 2004, which will be Co-sponsored by Colorado State University and University of Denver.

Director Melissa Esquibel moved that the Board convene into Executive Session, seconded by Director Loretta Kennedy. Motion unanimously carried. Chairman Mauch recessed the District meeting to convene the Executive Session at 11:45 A.M.

The Executive Session will be held for the purpose of:

• C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(a): "Concerning the purchase, acquisition, lease, transfer, or sales of any real, personal, or other property interest."
• C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(b): " Conferences with an attorney for the public entity for the purposes of receiving legal advice on specific legal question."
• C.R.S 24-6-402(4)(e): "Determining positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiations; developing strategy for negotiations; and instructing negotiators."

To discuss the following matters:

• Water Acquisition
• Legal Advice

The presence of the following persons was requested at this Executive Session:

• Board Members Present
• District Staff (General Manager & Administrative Coordinator)
• Counsel for the District

Chairman Leroy Mauch adjourned the Executive Session at 1:00 P.M, and reconvened the District Meeting at 1:01 PM.

REPORT FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Mr. Mendenhall reported the Executive Session covered the following issues:

• Acquisition property interest
• Matters concerning legal advice
• Matters that may be subject to negotiations

Chairman Leroy Mauch said there were several motions to be heard, which are as follows:

1. Individual Petitioners for Southern High Plains Ground Water Management Association shall seek their own legal counsel for future discussion or requests. Moved by Director Loretta Kennedy, seconded by Director Wayne Whittaker. Motion unanimously carried.
2. A Motion from Vice Chair John Singletary to agreed to file a motion of objection concerning attempts to exchange Colorado Canal Water, which involves the Colorado Canal Company, the Lake Meredith Reservoir Company (CASE NO. 84CW63), the Lake Henry Reservoir Company (CASE NO. 84CW64), and City of Colorado Springs, (CASE NO. 84CW62). Seconded by Director Loretta Kennedy. Motion unanimously carried.
3. Motion from Director Loretta Kennedy to agree to move forward with the Larkspur Ditch lease, contingent with Larkspur Board changing of bylaws to allow use of the water outside of Otero County. Seconded by Director Pete Moore. Motion unanimously carried. Director Wayne Whittaker did not participate in discussion regarding Larkspur Ditch Lease for possible conflict of interest. Director Whittaker excused himself from executive session and abstained from voting.

ADJOURNED:
Chairman Mauch asked if there were any other matters to come before the Board. Hearing none, motion was heard from Director Pete Moore, seconded by Melissa Esquibel to adjourn the meeting. Motion unanimously carried. Meeting was adjourned at 1:10 P.M