(1)(a) To facilitate the
process of interbasin compact negotiations, a twenty-seven-member interbasin
compact committee is created. The interbasin compact committee includes the
following members:
(I)Two representatives from each basin roundtable, at least one of whom
must reside within the borders of the roundtable and at least one of whom must
own adjudicated water rights, including owners of shares in a ditch or reservoir
company or their agents. Any such agent shall be appointed by the representative
the agent represents and must reside within the borders of the representative's
roundtable.
(II)Six at-large members appointed by the governor. The governor's
appointments must come from geographically diverse parts of the state and must
include individuals with expertise in
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(1) (a) To facilitate the
process of interbasin compact negotiations, a twenty-seven-member interbasin
compact committee is created. The interbasin compact committee includes the
following members:
(I) Two representatives from each basin roundtable, at least one of whom
must reside within the borders of the roundtable and at least one of whom must
own adjudicated water rights, including owners of shares in a ditch or reservoir
company or their agents. Any such agent shall be appointed by the representative
the agent represents and must reside within the borders of the representative's
roundtable.
(II) Six at-large members appointed by the governor. The governor's
appointments must come from geographically diverse parts of the state and must
include individuals with expertise in environmental, recreational, local
governmental, industrial, or agricultural matters. No more than three of the
governor's appointees may be affiliated with the same political party.
(III) One member appointed by the chair of the house agriculture, livestock,
and water committee, or its successor committee;
(IV) One member appointed by the chair of the senate agriculture and
natural resources committee, or its successor committee; and
(V) The director of compact negotiations.
(b) As soon as practicable following June 7, 2005, the committee shall
establish bylaws to govern its actions, including a procedure whereby basin
roundtables that opt out of the procedures established in this article are no longer
represented on the committee but may opt back in.
(2) (a) Not later than July 1, 2006, the interbasin compact committee shall
establish and refer to the general assembly an interbasin compact charter that
shall govern and guide all negotiations between basin roundtables under this
article. Upon receipt, consideration, and approval of the charter by the general
assembly acting by bill, negotiations between basin roundtables may commence.
Any compact or other agreement established using the procedures established in
this article shall fully comply with the terms, requirements, and procedures
established in the interbasin compact charter as approved pursuant to this
subsection (2).
(b) The general assembly hereby approves the interbasin compact charter as
submitted to the general assembly on April 6, 2006, by the interbasin compact
committee. The revisor of statutes shall publish the full text of the charter in the
Colorado Revised Statutes as nonstatutory matter in accordance with section 2-5-102 (9), C.R.S.
(3) At a minimum, the interbasin compact charter shall include the following:
(a) A negotiating framework and foundational principles to guide voluntary
negotiations between basin roundtables, including present and future consumptive
and nonconsumptive water uses and such policies as may be necessary to ensure
that compacts or other agreements between roundtables do not conflict or
otherwise not conform with one another;
(b) Subject to the principles established in section 37-75-102, procedures for
ratifying compacts or other agreements between basin roundtables, including the
requirement that every basin roundtable whose waters are affected by a proposed
compact or other agreement shall provide its affirmative support for such proposed
compact or other agreement before such compact or agreement is final or binding;
(c) As deemed appropriate by the interbasin compact committee but subject
to the principles established in section 37-75-102, authorities and procedures for
making compacts or other agreements between roundtables legally binding and
enforceable; and
(d) As deemed appropriate by the interbasin compact committee, procedures
for integrating the processes established in this article with existing planning,
permitting, and public participation processes related to the conservation and
development of water within Colorado; except that no provision of the charter shall
supercede, impair, or otherwise modify the authority, jurisdiction, or permitting
powers of counties or other local government entities.
(4) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), commencing in 2006, the
committee shall submit an annual report to the house of representatives committee
on agriculture, livestock, and natural resources and the senate committee on
agriculture, natural resources, and energy, or their successor committees, by
October 31 concerning the status of compact negotiations and, in consultation with
the Colorado water conservation board created in section 37-60-102, how money
from the water supply reserve fund created in section 39-29-109 (2)(c) was
allocated during the previous twelve months for water activities approved by basin
roundtables.
(5) The committee shall be deemed to be a state public body for purposes of
the open meetings law, part 4 of article 6 of title 24, C.R.S.