THE COLORADO BASIN ROUNDTABLE C/O P.O. BOX 1120 GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO 81602 Date: Draft Resolution in Support of Phase III of the Colorado Risk Study WHEREAS: The Colorado Basin Roundtable (CBRT) and eight other Basin Roundtables were formed under the 2005 Colorado Water for the 21st Century Act “to facilitate continued discussions within and between basins on water management issues, and to encourage locally driven collaborative solutions to water supply challenges;” WHEREAS: The CBRT has produced a White Paper and a Basin Implementation Plan, the latter as part of Colorado’s Water Plan, that identify the paramount importance of protecting the Colorado River system for the continued benefit of western Colorado; WHEREAS: The CBRT has identified the priority that existing uses of the river system for agricultural, municipal and industrial economies must be sustained; WHEREAS: The CBRT asserts that environmental and recreational values are of equal importance and in many ways dependent of the current water rights regime; WHEREAS: The CBRT and its three sister western Colorado Roundtables – the Southwest, the Gunnison and the Yampa-White-Green -- are engaged in study and discussions about how best to protect existing uses while trying to understand future western Colorado risks to the river system as well as development opportunities; Colorado Basin Roundtable Grant Request Page 2 WHEREAS: Only four years in the past 18 have seen above average snowfall in the Colorado River Basin, causing the U.S. Department of the Interior to call for the Upper and Lower Basins to develop Drought Contingency Plans; WHEREAS: The CBRT and its three sister western Colorado Roundtables have funded Phases I and II of the Colorado River Risk Study to develop information to inform policy decisions on future river use in the face of drought and the formation of Drought Contingency Plans; WHEREAS: The Colorado River District and the Southwestern Conservation District have offered to fund Phase III of the study without financial support from the Roundtables’ Water Supply Reserve Fund Basin Accounts as was the case in Phases I and II; WHEREAS: The CBRT appreciates the time-saving aspect of this funding plan, allowing for a quicker start to Phase III than experienced with Phase II; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: The CBRT supports this financial method of advancing Phase III of the Colorado River Risk Study on behalf of the four West Slope Basin Roundtables.