H.B. 473 Colorado River Authority Amendments: transcript

Committee, um, chairman and committee. Um, we're talking about, uh, HB 4 73. And, uh, I'm gonna be speaking to the first sub on it. And as you know, uh, you know, in 1922, the, the Colorado, uh, river compact was created. It was intended to last a hundred years, or it did, I guess, uh, did have some, uh, adjustments made, you know, periodically through it, but not very much happened from, uh, 1940s through, uh, 2000 when we, 2005, maybe it was, or seven. I don't remember when, uh, the, uh, draft contingency was put in. Of course, you know, in the, in the span of that time to when, uh, lake Powell and Lake Mead were built and, and the water everybody figured was, uh, great. But it got used be without being replenished. And so, uh, you know, the need for the, a new, uh, uh, Colorado River Compact, uh, came about. And as a lot of the members on this committee were here, were four years ago, five years ago, when we created the Colorado River, uh, authority and, and, uh, instigated our position and tried to get us, uh, our foot in the door on, uh, Utah. Us being Utah as we, uh, work towards a new Colorado River, uh, compact. And as we've gotten down, if everybody knows this Saturday is a deadline, and uh, we better look down the road a little bit, uh, our, uh, original bill lasts until, uh, July 1st, uh, 2027, which is only a year and a couple months away from right now. So we better start looking down the road 'cause we anticipate if we wind up without something being decided, we will be needing to figure out how to continue on. So, uh, that's what, uh, this, uh, bill, uh, h Bill 4 73 Colorado River Authority, uh, amendments. And, uh, it creates a, a new title in the state code to govern the waters of the Colorado River System. And statutorily moves the authority from the governor's office to the Department of Natural Resources, adds three additional members to the authority board, uh, creating a new southern geographically appointed member adding a River commissioner seat. And the Utah State Engineer, um, designates the River Commissioner as the Chair of the Authority Board and designates the executive director of department and the state engineer, both as non-voting members of the Authority Board, clarifies that future board appointees appointments will be made by the governor. Choosing from submissions from five Regents stipulated in the statute with the a advice and consent of the Senate, and, uh, sets the board members' terms after July 1st, 2027 as a four year terms and changes the quorum and majority requirements from four to five. And clarifies the mission of the authority as being to protect Utah's right to use waters from the Colorado River System explicitly empowers the authority to assist. Utah's water agent explicitly empowers the authority to coordinate with the Office of the Attorney General to prepare the state for potential litigation. And, um, clarifies the authorities grant and contracting authority specifies that the, a River Commissioner appointed after June 30th, 2027 is done so with the advice and consent of the Senate and specifies that the River Commissioner may not be the direct DNR director or the division of Water Resources director or the state engineer clarifies the future. River Commissioner appointments will be for your terms, not six. And the bill takes effect this July 20, July 1st, 2026. And I apologize, this appears to be a Casey Snyder bill. It's 65 pages long and, uh, that's not what it is. But the first 45 pages only have a few number changes and, uh, the, the real meat of it starts after that. But yeah, it is an important thing and it takes up quite a bit of time to write it out. Anyway, that's where we're at on that. I'm gonna ask Cody Stewart to come up here 'cause if there's, uh, whatever questions or if he has anything that we need to add on that he's been, uh, involved with it since it began. And I appreciate, uh, the help we've had on getting the bill put together. Mr. Stewart, would you like to an, uh, add anything to the presentation?

Uh, sure. I'll just, uh, Cody Stewart of the Director of Strategic Engagement for the Colorado River Authority of Utah. I just want to thank Representative Chew for his leadership on this. Uh, this is a bill that we, we do support. Um, I think if you remember five years ago when the authority was created, uh, um, I think we all had hope at that point in time that that Mother Nature would step in at some point and make our lives a little bit easier. Uh, unfortunately, she has not done that, and we're actually in, in a, probably a, a more difficult situation than we were even back then. So we think every, every one of the reforms that, uh, Representative Chew just mentioned, uh, helped strengthen the authority, helped make us more nimble, more flexible, more able to address the situation we're facing today. And so we're supportive and think this, this bill should, should pass and it will only help us in our efforts.

Thank you. Does that conclude your presentation?

That does, and I, yeah.

Thank you, chair. Um, I'm wondering if you could just help me understand, how does moving the authority from the governor's office to the Department of Natural Resources help with that nimbleness you're talking about?

Sure. Um, I, I think the easiest way to answer that question, uh, Mr. Chair, would be that, um, it helps bring about some organizational, uh, facilitation and coordination with, with the Department of Natural Resources. They have a lot of staff and expertise and resources that the authority itself doesn't have. And by, uh, by combining, uh, our efforts and making us, or ensuring that we, we coordinate and aligned even in a more close fashion, I think it'll just make sure that we one, represent, represent the state in an even stronger way. Um, also that we are, uh, in touch with the legislature. Uh, this isn't exactly what you asked, but the fact that these new, the board position and the River Commissioner are now Senate confirmed, I think we'll ensure that we are, are in alignment and are listening to the legislature to make sure that we are actually doing what you say. But I think combined there's will be some efficiencies and some, uh, coordination, information sharing flow that will be improved through this process. Thank you.

Thank you. My name is Dex Winterton. Uh, I'm general manager of the Moon Lake Water Users Association, which serves about 70,000 acres of irrigation land in UN Basin. Also a member of the, a board of on the board of, uh, directors for the Duchesne County Water Conservancy District. And we've had chance as a district to discuss this as well. Um, I guess personally just kind of mention it upfront, is that I grew up with my dad on a ranch, um, taking care of water also. He did this job of mine with Moon Lake Water users for nearly 30 years. So I'd like to kind of say, you know, this being a steward of water is kind of in my heritage and it's what I do. Um, and in this, I don't want to downplay anything with the role of the authority. It's a great organization and it's done wonderful things for the state. Um, however, as we, our area and, and I think many of the areas affected by this in the Colorado River drainage, um, I think upfront we kind of felt, you know, our, our representation of on the boots on the ground people has been on the smaller side of things. Um, and when it was first organized, we kind of brought up some of these things, and it hasn't changed, but as, as things are changing and things are, are growing in the Port enlarges, we'd kinda like to ask for some consideration of perhaps more representation from those who are on the ground, the people that are connected with the water in the areas, because I think it brings a different, uh, flavor, a different perspective to things that happen. And, and we realize, you know, that in everything there's a, the administrative side, you know, the people from the state and these people that run these things are a necessary part of that. Um, however, as, as it makes the move into the Department of Natural Resources, by nature of where it will be located, there is, you know, there's plenty of representation there in the Department of Natural Resources. And I think the board should be able to have more representation from the drainage to give their insight and input on those things that are going on. Um, you know, for us it's, uh, the water and the agriculture end in our, in the Una Basin. It's been our stable part. It's stable part of our industry, in our area. And, and we'd like to see us to be able to continue to be stewards of the water by participating in this organization as we move forward. And I don't know how that looks. And we realize, you know, every county probably wants their own representative and there are limitations of numbers of people that can be on a board and for it to be effective. But if there's any way that can be done where there's at large or other representatives that can be brought in to represent the drainage on those boards, we would truly appreciate you taking that into consideration. So, thank

Hey, uh, yes, thank you Juab. I'm Joel Ferry, executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources. Um, and just want to first of all, uh, express support for this legislation. I wanna personally thank Representative Chew. He and I have, you know, we've worked together closely on this legislation as, um, uh, this kind of came to be, as he explained, you know, that the authority has been in place for, well since 2021. Um, and as it has evolved and grown, and we, we have this close collaboration, this helps ensure that, uh, the work is being done, that the, um, resources necessary being put towards protecting Utah's allocation of the Colorado River. And, um, and I want to commend also the authority, the Colorado River Authority. I've had the opportunity to serve, um, as vice chair of the board of the Colorado River Authority. Um, you know, this, this legislation impacts my position there. I won't be the, I won't be serving as the vice chair any longer. It'll, it'll take me down to a or move me into a, um, a non-voting member, which is okay because we want the, the, the board and we want the authority to function. Um, and I'll, I'll just tell you, you know, there, there has been some questions moving into DNR. Does it just get lost? And I'll tell you that this, this is not something that just gets lost. This is a, from administrative perspective, this actually strengthens the authority, um, because they're surrounded now by resources that will support them and help them, um, in the governor's office. You know, it's, it was kind of an island floating there. And this will give them the resources as support and the backing that they need. Um, and so my commitment too as well is when you look, if you look at this bill, um, the authority has been granted certain, um, uh, kinda exclusionary benefit so that they can function nimbly. That's their design, is to be, um, the negotiators for the state of Utah. And in order to do that, you've gotta be able to do that in a certain way. And so this maintains all of those, um, kind of beneficial practices so they can operate and perform their functions. Fully supportive of that and wanna see that continue. And, um, you know, finally going into the, the, when we talk about the Colorado River, how important it's to the state of Utah, you know, we have, and we've rec our, our allocation, it's the lifeblood, not just to Eastern Utah, but here in on the Wasatch front as well. Um, uh, an enormous portion of the water that we drink is coming from the Colorado River. It sustains, um, you know, you look at, at projects from the Central Utah project that are pipelines going to Nephi right now, the, you know, complete the, the Kka, um, central Utah Project Completion Act is, is delivering water throughout Utah and, um, in these low water years, it's a strain, but proper investment, proper planning, and making the investments now make sure ensure that we have sufficient water for our needs in the future. So I'm really, um, again, so supportive of this bill. Thank you Representative Chew for your work on this. Um, looking forward to working through some of the additional issues that may be there. But, um, this is, this is a great legislation and a good, really big step forward as we look to kind of the, the second generation of what the Colorado River Authority is and what it's going to do for the state of Utah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank

Yes, sir. Thank You. Overtime, they're in overtime 'cause these storms have been few and far between.

Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to adopt the sub first sub, uh, call River Authority Amendments.

I move to favorably recommend HB 4 73 First sub

Just briefly? I mean, this is so critical. I, I remember when my family first got into the little bit of the boating business down to Lake Powell. This is back in the early nineties. There was lots of water there. You didn't have to go down the boat ramp very far to get there. So we got a, a significant drought going on. And this is, we need the help making sure that we, you know, uh, develop our rights and, and fight for our rights in the Colorado River. So, thank you, Representative Chew,

So I appreciate the, the at attend attention of the, of the committee. I appreciate the, the motion here and I, I wanna thank the, the Colorado River Caucus, uh, for, uh, you know, it took us, uh, a while as far as the caucus members to, uh, to, to go this direction. We were not in favor of it. We realize now there's reasons that it needed to go this way. And, uh, and, and I think we came up with, with a good deal that, you know, uh, as we, as we work on a lot of our, our builds that come through the natural resources and the, and the main drafter, we understand now why she has white hair. And, uh, we also, uh, I I also appreciate, uh, Mr. Winterton driving out here today to, to, to express his concern. And, and those of you that don't know, he has a fascinating job and a and a lot of, uh, of institutional knowledge that, uh, like he said, he gained by just being at the, you know, following his dad around. But some of the, the lakes and water ways that he works with are just fascinating, uh, uh, testaments of what our, uh, forefather's done before us as far as putting things together. And, uh, man, it's just frustrating to think that we, uh, that a lot of things that affect us out here are, are created by, uh, you know, someone, someone far away that doesn't understand this. So this is important that we, uh, that we continue on with the Colorado River Authority. And I know those of us that help begin a few years back thought that we would be talking a whole different, uh, talking about a whole different thing right now. But, uh, this is necessary. And so I appreciate the support of the committee.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Committee. I can't tell you this. Uh, yeah, it's on. I can tell now. Um, appreciate this. You know, um, I'm sure everybody's aware of, of the situation with the Colorado River and, and just recently we, none of us have had, uh, well, we didn't get a, uh, a, a new, uh, uh, compact, which is what we'd hoped for, for, uh, five, four years ago. Five years ago now, I guess, when we set up the Colorado River Authority and, uh, last fall, we decided, we realized we we're gonna have to, uh, extend the authority than what we, than where we've got it currently go until, uh, till, uh, that 1st of July and next year, 2027. So we started, uh, looking at it and originally, I, I was really concerned about that. We were talking about moving it, but we needed to move it out of the Governor's office and put it over under, uh, the end of the Department of Natural Resources. That's where most of our, uh, agencies and stuff that we have to deal with are. So, uh, we put it over there, but it's, it's, uh, under its own, uh, umbrella you might say, so that it's gonna be a lot more flexible than it would be if it was, uh, stuck under somebody else. 'cause it definitely needs that. And, uh, what we're talking about is the, the, the second sub, uh, uh, of 4 73. And of course, we passed that on the floor over at the, uh, house. And, uh, this, um, the second sub, uh, just made it so that it would be, uh, uh, it'd be, uh, uh, the same as what's dealt with in, uh, house Bill, uh, 5 45, which, uh, puts the, uh, which is dealing with the money part of it, which is a, a separate, but it's still something we have to be dealing with. The, the, as I said, we, the bill, uh, you know, our original bill was in, we, we passed it at 2, 2 97 in, in, um, 20. In the general session of 2021. It was the, the bill that the, the Speaker, speaker Wilson ran. And, um, uh, this, this bill empowers the authority to, uh, support our water agent and coordinate with the Attorney General as prepare, prepare for potential litigation. That's one of the things we realized is gonna happen if we didn't get an agreement, which the time's passed and we're headed that direction. And, um, um, those of us that rely on the Colorado River, it's put us in kind of a tough spot. We all know what, uh, litigation can do. And, and the Colorado River, our portion of the Colorado River extends clear across the state. You know, I think somebody once said that 80% of our population has some, um, uh, some dependency on some of the Colorado River water. And anyway, we can't afford to sit still. And, and, um, 4 73, uh, sub two ensures we are organized, prepared, and ready to defend. Utah's full of a portion of the, the Colorado River. So we just needed to catch up to what the world's to turning. And so that's where we're at.

That, and that's good enough for right now. Okay.

Thank you. On line 17 47, 17 48, uh, it strikes out, uh, the mission of the authority is to protect, conserve, use, and develop Utah's waters of the Colorado River system, uh, and replaces with Utah's right to use water from the Colorado River system. Could you speak to why, uh, conserve is no longer in the bill or in the, in the statute?

So gimme a second to, to get down to that line. I've got Cody Stewart here who's been involved with the entirety of the thing to, to help with some of this, so I'll pull that up and, and perhaps Cody knows that answer right off without having to get down to the, to the line.

Uh, yeah, my name is Cody Stewart. I'm the, a, the Director of Strategic Engagement for the Colorado River Authority of Utah. Um, Mr. Chair, Senator, i, I, I think I can respond this way, A couple reasons. One, that there was some statutory duplication with that language, with some other, uh, agencies at the Department of Natural Resources. And two, uh, I think we believe that the, the idea of protecting Utah's right to use, uh, the waters of, of Colorado River, uh, inherently includes the ideas of, of conservation or developer use. So in some ways it was duplicative or unnecessary language. Uh, protect is a pretty broad mandate, and I think the state of Utah will do whatever it needs to, and certainly I think we've seen under director ferry conservation is a huge priority for, for the state, for the department. And I don't think that will, by any means, be undermined or lessened by, by this statute, by this language change.

Thank you, chair and members of the committee. My name is Cecily Ross from Salt Lake City, representing myself. I urge you to oppose HB 4 73 in its current form. Although the proposed structural changes may elevate local and tribal voices, decision making should be guided by sound science and the lived experiences of everyone impacted. As Senator Blouin discussed, one of the most discreet but impactful changes occurs line 1746 to 1748, which removes the authority's responsibility to conserve the Colorado River system, which was included alongside its ability to use and develop Utah's rightful water allocation under the Colorado River Compact. Coupled with the provisions on line 1751 to 1765 that give the authority direct powers to control development on the river that could empower extremely damaging projects such as the Lake Powell pipeline. These changes risk further harming the Colorado River system, as well as undermining our state's ongoing negotiations regarding the river. Other states may not take our position seriously if we are actively removing any mandate of conservation on Colorado River Water. The most recent report from the Bureau of Reclamation shows the very real possibility of Lake Powell dropping below Deadpool levels later this year, preventing the Glen Canyon Dam from generating any, any energy. Now is not the time to be focusing solely on using water. We must continue to conserve what we can and only use what we need, remove these changes from the bill and continue to pre protect the fragile Colorado River system while strengthening local voices that rely on that water. Thank you.

Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Joel Ferry. I'm the director, executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources. Um, pleasure being with you this afternoon, this rainy afternoon. Yay. We're blessed. Um, I just want to express our support from the department and also I, I wanted to publicly thank Representative Chew for the work that he's done on this. This has been a, um, a, a really big lift and a, a large bill that, um, uh, directly impacts his district and moves. I think when you look at the, kind of the progression and the life cycle of, of an office, um, moves it into, uh, out of just, you know, kind of floating within the Governor's office, but into a department where it's gonna be given some additional support, um, and, uh, and ultimately make it stronger. The coordination from the different agencies within the Department of Natural Resources are critical. Uh, when you think about the different mission mandates and, and we've, there's been some discussion about this already, but, you know, the state engineer's office is tasked with regulating water. The Division of Water Resources is the agency for the state that's tasked with this water conservation mandate. Working closely together with those agencies at a higher level helps us achieve better outcomes. Um, when you look at the Department of Natural Resources and the governor's budget, I know we're going through budget season right now, but you know, I know you all paid close attention to the governor's budget. There was two requests from the Department of Natural Resources that were in the governor's budget that were from the general fund, and one of them was the Demand Management Program, which is a conservation program for the Colorado River Authority. The other one was, um, a water leasing program for the Great Salt Lake, both centered around water conservation. Right? If that doesn't signal where our hearts are, where our minds are and where our wallets are, I don't know what does. So that's where we are and that's what we're doing, and we will continue to do that to make sure and enable, give the support, the resources and the, um, the, the, the manpower, the funding, the e everything necessary for the Colorado River Authority to be successful. So I look forward, um, and I'll just, the last thing I'll say is one thing that was really important, these authorities, there, there are several throughout the state, but they're, they're really specifically designed to be nimble. And so if you'll see, you notice that the, the, um, authorizations, um, the mandates and some of the, kind of the structural, um, uh, you know, the way the office is set up is still in place. So they're very nimble. They can be very flexible. They're not gonna be encumbered by a lot of kinda some of the other things that, that, um, other offices have. So this is a really good outcome, and I think, um, we're, again, we're very supportive and look forward to working at a higher level with the authority. So thank you.

with me. Um,

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I can't speak to that. Uh, in general, uh, there, the fiscal note was a little confusing. I, I recognize that. And, and I think that the easiest way to describe it would be there really should not be a cost imposed because we're essentially transferring budgets from one entity to another state entity. And so there's no additional costs, no new, new funds that are being spent. I know it was worded a little strange and, and we were a little bit perplexed by it too. But, but that's my understanding is that, and I, I just can't conceive of any reason why there would be more costs merely to, to change the reporting mechanism for, for the authority.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, that money's just being moved from the executive over to the natural resources, so it's just shall basically moving it over. Yes. So it's, that's correct. Since we're moving the agency, we have to take the money with it. And so with that motion, uh, with that, I would like to make the motion that we pass out, uh, second substitute house bill 4 73 with a favorable recommendation.

I appreciate that and I appreciate the attention of the committee. I'd like to comment a little bit on, on some of the questions or some of the concerns that were brought up. You know, uh, uh, it was mentioned that, uh, we'd taken, uh, conservation out of the bill, but we have not taken conservation out of what we do at all. Uh, you know, we're, we're, uh, very active in in making sure we keep the demand management, uh, program, uh, alive, which, uh, is, is helping us with that. And, um, you know, uh, with water scar scarcity is, is not theoretical. It's, it's real. And, uh, other basin states are aggressively preparing to, for the litigation we needed to be, uh, you know, we, we started this, uh, hoping to be one step ahead. We wanna stay ahead. And so that's, uh, uh, part of what we're doing here, and, uh, uh, that's part of the reason we've got this legislation like it is so we can defend our, our rights. This or what, what's constitutionally ours. Another way to say it is, you know, this is more of a cleanup bill, and that has major structural, uh, overhaul and the strategic modifications are being made to, um, strengthen the authority, but its overhaul, mission, staff and focus are largely staying the same. And definitely on, on our, our, our focus. Um, yeah, we, we intend to stick up for our rights and make sure we keep water in the Colorado River.

Yeah. Well, being the, the conservation part of it being taken out of it, we're gonna be forced to conserve because when to be fighting for less water, we're gonna be happen to conserve because we're gonna have a whole lot less water, especially if we lose, uh, against the, uh, downstream states. And so I would just say that, uh, you know, we've gotta be able to keep what we have, which we're not gonna be able to. And, and, and as they mentioned, you know, we're gonna lose, uh, power generation at the, at the plant anyway. 'cause we're gonna have to turn more water downstream whether to be like it or not. And so we are gonna lose power generation a lot of things, but we need to join with the other states to try to, you know, share. I mean, everybody's in it for the same thing. We just don't have enough water for everybody and population's growing and the weather conditions are changing evidently. And so with that, I would just say that we'd like your support on this bill. Thank you.

Thanks for the time.

Ironically, I've just been listening to the, the Colorado River report and, uh, so gimme just a second. I'll grab my notes. Um, I need to move the second sub. Okay. Thank you. Motion is to represent Chu second sub, Second sub second sub. Just a moment, let's see if we can find it.

Yes, please. Thank you. Um, the, the legislation strengthens, uh, Utah's, uh, critical, uh, uh, what, uh, their critical, uh, status with the Colorado River. And, uh, the second, the second sub simply makes, uh, adjustments to accommodate what might happen or might not happen. Either way. We need to, uh, make the adjustments on the, on, on the restricted fund, uh, the Colorado restricted fund. And that's what, uh, the second sub does.

So that the, the second sub does not have any kind of a fiscal impact.

So, uh, those of you that were here, you know, a few years back, uh, speaker Wilson had the Colorado River Authority bill and, uh, it was established because of the fact that the Colorado River Compact was a hundred years old in 19, in 2022. And it, um, we've got a situation, we need to renew it, and there's not as much water as we would hoped there would be. And so, um, the Colorado River Authority was created and we're down the road that far. We can see that, uh, the fact we didn't get in a, a decision made on it, uh, this past Saturday that we, uh, have gotta continue on. We anticipated this was gonna happen. So we've created this, uh, the Colorado River Authority bill to, uh, simply continue on with, uh, what we've got. And so the negotiations can continue, but we've moved it from, uh, being under the governor's, uh, out of the governor's office into DNR. And, um, uh, we, we had to look and see what we're gonna do as we, uh, proceed farther along with what we'll do with, uh, get, um, creating an or changing our, uh, our, our river commissioner, our, uh, agents that are working for us. And, uh, you know, we've got a lot to deal with, with shrinking reservoirs. Not as much, uh, snow pack to fill our reservoirs. And so, uh, we can't afford to stand still. So that's why we've tried to look down the road and, and continue on with the Colorado, Colorado River Authority. Basically, that's what the bill does.

Thank you Mr. Speaker ProAm. I just want to rise in, in support of this bill. Uh, the good, uh, representative from the UN Basin has chaired a Colorado River Caucus for the last few months during interim. And, uh, those of us who are affected by the Colorado River, which we all should be aware that we are because a lot of that water, uh, comes from the Central Utah project to give us a drink here in, in, uh, Utah and Salt Lake and Weber Counties. But, uh, he's done a good job chairing that caucus. And, uh, he and I were just got off a phone with the, uh, the negotiators for Utah on the Colorado River. Unfortunately, uh, they didn't reach an agreement with the other basin states, and so, uh, things are gonna carry on. They're still gonna try to negotiate, but, um, if they can't come to an agreement, then uh, we, we'll probably have the Department of Interior who manages these reservoirs, uh, Glen Canyon and, and Flaming Gorge. They'll be making the decision for us. So all I can tell you is that, uh, the good representatives done a great job. Uh, this bill outlines where we're trying to go with the Colorado River. Uh, it's not pretty. The reservoirs are low. We had one good snow storm yesterday. We need more to, to help our situation with water. So, I, I just, uh, speak in support of this bill. It's a very important bill and, and, uh, urge your support. Thank you.

for summation. Thank You. I appreciate the, the attention that, uh, this is done. It's an important bill. It, the Colorado River's in a tough spot, and, uh, Utah's in a tough, tough spot because of it. And, uh, we need to continue on with this. So I would, uh, I really appreciate your support on this bill.

Yes, please. Thank you. Um, the, the legislation strengthens, uh, Utah's, uh, critical, uh, uh, what, uh, their critical, uh, status with the Colorado River. And, uh, the second, the second sub simply makes, uh, adjustments to accommodate what might happen or might not happen. Either way. We need to, uh, make the adjustments on the, on, on the restricted fund, uh, the Colorado restricted fund. And that's what, uh, the second sub does.

See none Representative. Chew for summation So that the, the second sub does not have any kind of a fiscal impact.

So, uh, those of you that were here, you know, a few years back, uh, speaker Wilson had the Colorado River Authority bill and, uh, it was established because of the fact that the Colorado River Compact was a hundred years old in 19, in 2022. And it, um, we've got a situation, we need to renew it, and there's not as much water as we would hoped there would be. And so, um, the Colorado River Authority was created and we're down the road that far. We can see that, uh, the fact we didn't get in a, a decision made on it, uh, this past Saturday that we, uh, have gotta continue on. We anticipated this was gonna happen. So we've created this, uh, the Colorado River Authority bill to, uh, simply continue on with, uh, what we've got. And so the negotiations can continue, but we've moved it from, uh, being under the governor's, uh, out of the governor's office into DNR. And, um, uh, we, we had to look and see what we're gonna do as we, uh, proceed farther along with what we'll do with, uh, get, um, creating an or changing our, uh, our, our river commissioner, our, uh, agents that are working for us. And, uh, you know, we've got a lot to deal with, with shrinking reservoirs. Not as much, uh, snow pack to fill our reservoirs. And so, uh, we can't afford to stand still. So that's why we've tried to look down the road and, and continue on with the Colorado, Colorado River Authority. Basically, that's what the bill does.

Thank you Mr. Speaker ProAm. I just want to rise in, in support of this bill. Uh, the good, uh, representative from the UN Basin has chaired a Colorado River Caucus for the last few months during interim. And, uh, those of us who are affected by the Colorado River, which we all should be aware that we are because a lot of that water, uh, comes from the Central Utah project to give us a drink here in, in, uh, Utah and Salt Lake and Weber Counties. But, uh, he's done a good job chairing that caucus. And, uh, he and I were just got off a phone with the, uh, the negotiators for Utah on the Colorado River. Unfortunately, uh, they didn't reach an agreement with the other basin states, and so, uh, things are gonna carry on. They're still gonna try to negotiate, but, um, if they can't come to an agreement, then uh, we, we'll probably have the Department of Interior who manages these reservoirs, uh, Glen Canyon and, and Flaming Gorge. They'll be making the decision for us. So all I can tell you is that, uh, the good representatives done a great job. Uh, this bill outlines where we're trying to go with the Colorado River. Uh, it's not pretty. The reservoirs are low. We had one good snow storm yesterday. We need more to, to help our situation with water. So, I, I just, uh, speak in support of this bill. It's a very important bill and, and, uh, urge your support. Thank you.

for summation. Thank You. I appreciate the, the attention that, uh, this is done. It's an important bill. It, the Colorado River's in a tough spot, and, uh, Utah's in a tough, tough spot because of it. And, uh, we need to continue on with this. So I would, uh, I really appreciate your support on this bill.

Thank You. Thank you Mr. President. This legislation strengthens Utah at the critical moment that we have on the Colorado River. Uh, despite recent storms, Utah has still experienced one of the worst winters on record and the persistent drought and low reservoir levels pursue per escalating risks to the water future. That what this bill does is it's able to take the Colorado River Authority of Utah from the governor's office and move it to the Department of Natural Resources, uh, to provide the transition. It takes the money that had been appropriated and it just moves that money over to that. And because of all the expertise that DNR has in the, uh, their department, it'll help on our, uh, possible lawsuit that we're gonna be involved in, uh, with the other, uh, down, uh, down river states. And so with that, I'm open to questions.

Roll call. Vote. Yeah. Senator Vickers Baldy. Aye. Lewin Brammer. Aye. Bus Comore. Escamilla Fillmore. Aye. Grover Har kinins If Gibson Johnson Kwan McKay. Mikel Milner Musselman Owens pitcher Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Bickers Weiler Aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton President Adams

Thank you Mr. President moved on. Circle House Bill 4 0 1. Motion to encircle House Bill 4 0 1 geothermal study amendments.

Uh, thank you Mr. President. This geothermal study, uh,