HomeMy WebLinkAboutbocc.res.080.1974Re:
RESOLUTION
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO
No. 74-~
Litigation to Achieve Minimum Stream Flows
WHEREAS, Pitkin County contains many miles of streams
and rivers the preservation of which is essential to its beauty
and its tourist-oriented economy,
WHEREAS, the preservation of the Roaring Fork River, the
Frying Pan River, and lesser streams such as Hunter, Midway, and
No-Name Creeks are immediately threatened by over appropriation
from numerous applications filed by many private sources such as
the Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Company, Mills Bunger, and
others, and by federal and federally funded trans-mountain diver-
i sion projects, such as the Frying Pan-Arkansas Project,
WHEREAS, the Colorado Water Conservation Board is
i charged by statute with, among other things, determining and pur-
! suing minimum stream flows to preserve the public, recreational,
'.and environmental interest in our state's rivers and streams, and
WHEREAS, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, by lette~
dated August 15, 1974, from its director to the Pitkin County
Attorney has informed us that "neither this Board, nor the Divisi(
of Wildlife have either adequate personnel or funds to complete th~
state classification within a short period of time," and that "a
minimum of ten years will be required to complete the entire study
assuming that additional funds and additional personnel are made
available," although the Board is "hopeful" it can complete a
study of the Roaring Fork by the end of 1975; and
WHEREAS, applications for minimum stream flows may
be unduly prejudiced by statutes of limitations problems unless
begun immediately, and
WHEREAS, such applications are prejudiced, and might
well be rendered nugatory and fruitless if left to the time
schedule dictated by the Board's under-staffing and under-
financing,
NOW THEP~EFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of County
Commissioners of Pitkin County hereby authorizes its water
attorneys, Vranesh and Musick, immediately to file applications
for water rights to preserve adequate minimum stream flows as
beneficial uses in the Roaring Fork River, Hunter Creek,
Midway Creek, and No-Name Creek; to obtain the earliest possible
relation-back date from such water rights; and to name the
Colorado Water Conservation Board, of the Department of
Natural Resources, as an involuntary applicant pursuant to
Rule 19, Colo. Rules Civ. Pro., and chapters 148 and 149,
C.R.S. 1963, as amended, and that Messrs. Vranesh and Musick
be authorized to employ Wright Water Engineers for any necessary
engineering aid in pursuance of the water claims.
Dated: September 30, 1974
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF PITKIN COUNTY
By
ATTEST:
Nina Johnston, Deputy Clerk
-2-