A legislative battle over ground-water disputes that divided top Republicans washed out in committee Tuesday afternoon.
would have made it harder for municipalities, developers or others to win court cases for permits to pump water that might otherwise be used agriculture didn’t get a motion for a vote after hours of testimony from farmers and water districts.
The bill would keep those who would dispute decisions from the state Ground Water Commission from introducing new evidence in the appeal process. Their competitors said it would allow them to out-spend farmers, ranchers and rural water districts to overpower them in court.
“The size of a checkbook should not determine how water is managed,” Marc Arnusch, a Weld County farmer and member of the Lost Creek Ground Water Management District told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.
Committee chairwoman Ellen Roberts, a Republican from Durango who is a lawyer, said that instead of the routine 2 out of 100 state Ground Water Commission cases a year that are appealed to district court, many more would have to pay for studies and legal expertise up front to hedge against the potential of an appeal later.
“I don’t see how this would reduce costs for everybody,” she said. “It would drive them up.”
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Ray Scott, a Republican from Grand Junction who is in 2018.
Scott and House sponsor Don Coram with Republican Senate President Bill Cadman and the last Republican governor, Bill Owens, who personally urged Republican lawmakers to kill the bill.
Owens works for an investment group that deals in water.
The legislation sailed through the Democrat-led House, passing 60-5 on April 1. It was not assigned to a Senate committee until three weeks later.
“It’s been a wild ride to get to this hearing,” Scott said.
The bill’s supporters fear municipalities getting well permits to pump year-round instead of seasonally, as agriculture does.
“No one wants to see more ‘buy and dry’ of ag water,” Colorado Farm Bureau president Don Shawcroft said. “This legislation is necessary to level the playing field on applications to change water rights in designated basins. What’s happened is that if the application is appealed to the district court, the applicant is using legal maneuvering to bring new information that was not presented to the Ground Water Commission.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174, jbunch@denverpost.com or @joeybunch
