MEMORANDUM
January 3, 2019
TO:

CRWCD Board of Directors

FROM:

Hunter Causey, P.E., Senior Water Resources Engineer
Andy Mueller, General Manager

SUBJECT:

Support for Pre-permitting Phase of White River Storage Project

ACTION: Staff requests that the Board authorize a financial contribution of up to $50,000 and
staff time toward the pre-permitting evaluation of the White River Storage Project as more fully
described below.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES: 2. Outreach in All Basins
3. Climate and Hydrologic Uncertainty
7. Water Needs/Project Development

Summary
At the River District Board’s 2018 fourth quarterly meeting, the Rio Blanco Water Conservancy
District (RBWCD) presented its proposed White River Storage Project (Project) and requested
financial and staff support for their “pre-permitting” phase of the project which is expected to last
one year. As directed by the Board, staff ran this request through the River District’s internal rubric
utilized for evaluating new requests for assistance. River District staff recommends that the Board
authorize financial and limited staff resources to the pre-permitting evaluation stage of the
proposed project.
Financial and Staff Commitment
RBWCD applied for and received funding from the CWCB for a $350,000 Water Plan Grant. In
combination with $300,000 from RBWCD, a River District contribution of $50,000 from the
General Fund would constitute the 50% match required for the CWCB grant. Staff recommends
issuing funds upon receipt of invoices for the technical analysis portion of the pre-permitting effort.
RBWCD has requested that River District staff support the pre-permitting phase of the project in
a variety of ways including legal and technical consultation as well as through public outreach.
River District staff recommends limiting involvement to an informal advisory role, which would
entail providing insight and feedback to the project steering committee primarily through
participation in steering committee meetings. This may include providing feedback on technical,

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January 3, 2019

Support for Pre-permitting Phase of White River Storage Project
legal, or public affairs efforts but would not include providing specific engineering analysis, legal
services, or directly providing public outreach. Based on conversation with RBWCD, the steering
committee meetings are anticipated to last approximately two hours and include both
teleconference and in-person meetings. Staff support is expected to take place throughout 2019
and require approximately 265 hours of staff time which is equivalent to an approximately $30,000
in-kind contribution from the River District as shown in the table below.

Table 1. Approximate staff time and cost commitment
Engineering
External Affairs
Legal
Accounting
General Counsel
Senior Management

annual hours
60
60
60
10
25
50
265

loaded rate
$70
$120
$120
$70
$160
$125

total
$4,200
$7,154
$7,200
$700
$4,000
$6,250
$29,504

Discussion
The River District has historically been involved in the evaluation and development of Western
Slope water storage projects. This effort offers an opportunity for the River District to support
RBWCD as a technical advisor in their effort to evaluate the need and feasibility of a project which
is intended to utilize storage to maximize the beneficial use of water in the White River Basin.
This project is in the pre-permitting phase which will involve preparation of significant technical
analysis which will be required by state and federal authorities in the permitting phase of the
project.
River District experience and staff observations of similar projects have shown that the time
needed to take a water development project from permitting through construction is difficult to
determine and easily underestimated. If RBWCD requests continued River District involvement
beyond the 2019 pre-permitting phase, staff recommends that the Board revisit its staff
commitment to this project after the completion of the pre-permitting phase or at the 2020 first
quarterly meeting (whichever comes first).