WWHEREAS the struggle in the West to preserve private property rights continues in the face of increasing federal control and management of federal lands and the resources interconnected with those lands; and
WHEREAS the creation of specific federal reserved water rights, especially in connection with additional wilderness designations, is still subject to debate and final resolution by Congress; and
WHEREAS the federal agencies, as affirmed by passage of the McCarran Amendment in 1952 (43 U.S.C. § 666), must defer to laws regarding the adjudication of water rights; and
WHEREAS the executive branch is constitutionally prohibited from creating any substantive property rights; and
WHEREAS the actions of the U.S. Forest Service in requiring any kind of streamflow bypass or minimum flow requirements in the renewal of existing permits or use of existing facilities in connection with permitting of non-federal waterworks or the operation of any other facilities upon federal lands constitutes the creation of “federal administrative water rights,” without Congressional authorization, which have the direct effect of prejudicing water rights duly- obtained in state water courts under state laws;
WHEREAS the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 included a delicate water language compromise, worked out after difficult negotiations between members of the Colorado congressional delegation and interested groups over a period of more than ten years, and
WHEREAS that 1993 language reads in pertinent part: no agency, court or person “shall assert…the designation of any lands as wilderness by this Act, as constituting an express or implied reservation of water or water rights”
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Club 20 affirms its belief that the issue of reserved federal water rights in wilderness areas was satisfactorily addressed by the 1993 Colorado Wilderness Act; and
, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Club 20
- Opposes federally imposed stream bypasses in order to renew or modify a special use permit, or renewal of a FERC license, and
- Oppose criteria in Forest Land Management Plans that preclude multiple uses of federal lands, and
Supports the Memorandum of Understanding between the Region 2 Forest Service and Colorado Department of Natural Resources as an appropriate mechanism to implement alternative policy practices to potential bypass requirements,
- Opposes any Federal requirement that permittees assign water rights, OR PORTIONS THEREOF, to the United States in order to obtain, renew or modify federal permits, , and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Club 20 believes that matters involving water rights and water quality should remain in state jurisdiction as matters of primary state interest.
Adopted 04/12/2024
Amended 09/20/2024
Incorporates WA-92-2, WA-92-3, WA-12-1 and WA-10-1