Zane Kessler From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Andy Mueller Monday, September 14, 2020 8:07 PM kelly.mcnicholas@pitkincounty.com; steve.child@pitkincounty.com; patti.clapper@pitkincounty.com; greg.poschman@pitkincounty.com; george.newman@pitkincounty.com Zane Kessler; Peter Fleming Colorado River District Ballot Question Resolution Dear Commissioners: An opaquely worded item on your agenda for September 15 that reads in its entirety: “Special Meeting AGENDA and TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE Ballot Initiative Discussion, John Ely ADJOURN SPECIAL MEETING” There are no documents associated with this item in your agenda packet available to the public. Even if this notice does meet the minimal requirements of the Colorado open meetings law, it is clearly not drafted to give actual notice to the public of the matter your board intends to discuss. It has come to my attention that it is the Board’s intention to meet to discuss the Ballot Question, 7A proposed by the Board of Directors of the Colorado River Water Conservation District. It has also come to my attention that there is a draft resolution circulating among Board members. This draft resolution is not available to the public or contained within the documents posted on line for the work session into which this “Special Meeting” is inserted. Over the past 8 months, myself and our District’s Government Affairs Director, Zane Kessler have made repeated offers to come discuss the possible and now actual ballot question with your Board. Our offers to Pitkin County’s representative to our Board have been ignored and not acted upon. As recently as last week, I offered to two of your commissioners at the Crystal River Caucus to come meet with you to discuss our shared priorities and how we move forward in a collaborative fashion. Late this afternoon I learned by anonymous tip that you are set to pass a resolution opposing the Colorado River District Ballot initiative without even having a dialogue with us. When contacted this evening, one of your Board members went so far as to tell our Government Affairs Director that it would not be appropriate to have a conversation. Given the threats posed by climate change and a growing front range population, I would suggest that now is the time that we should be engaging in meaningful and productive dialogue designed to get us all to a place where we can work collaboratively for the benefit of our joint constituents. 1 While I recognize that the Colorado River District and Pitkin County have not always seen eye to eye, we do represent a shared constituency, the residents of Pitkin County who deserve open and transparent governments which cooperate and collaborate with each other on important matters such as long term water security. Our District staff and Board are not the dam builders of the 1950’s who filed on the water rights on the Crystal River. Nor is it true as some have recently asserted that our District clings to the idea of building dams in the Crystal River Valley to export water. Our staff prepared and the Board passed a binding resolution and Fiscal Implementation plan which obligates the District to spending the funds raised by this ballot initiative on five categories of water projects which include, Healthy Rivers, Conservation and Efficiency, Watershed health and water quality, Productive agriculture and infrastructure. The funds raised will be expended “in an equitable manner which, over time disperses the benefits of the program geographically within the District boundaries and between the identified categories.” The bottom line is that keeping water on the West Slope and keeping our communities vibrant as we experience the severe drying effects of climate change will require the joint resources of all of our communities and governments involved in protecting the water resources of Pitkin County and the rest of the West Slope. We are truly stronger together when it comes to protecting our water resources and the communities that depend upon them. Before you take up a discussion and vote on the draft ballot measure you have in front of you, I respectfully request an opportunity to engage in direct communication with you as a Board. As such, I ask that you postpone your consideration of this resolution to a meeting where we and others in the Pitkin County community can participate in a dialogue around these issues. Thank you for consideration of this request. Sincerely, Andy Mueller General Manager 201 Centennial Street PO Box 1120 Glenwood Springs, CO 81602 T: 970.945.8522, ext. 1242 C: 970.318.1273 www.ColoradoRiverDistrict.org 2 3