MEEKER I The Rio Blanco County District Court appointed Mike Brennan, R. Reed Kelley, Benjamin Rogers, Gary Dunham and Walter N. Proctor to the the Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy Board of Directors Nov. 4 (effective Oct 21). The Yellow Jacket board also includes Ed Coryell, David Smith and Kelly Sheridan.
No one petitioned for appointment in the Juniper District, therefore that seat remains vacant.
The Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District will meet next on Dec. 8 from 3-5 p.m. at the Mountain Valley Bank Community Room. In addition, on Oct. 24, the Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District filed a notice of appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court appealing the Water Court’s July 2011 ruling which dismissed Yellow Jacket’s conditional water rights. This appeal process is estimated to take up to a year with a final order likely to be issued sometime in early 2013.
The Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District Water Storage Feasibility Study will publish its final Phase I Report in the next few weeks and will move on to Phase II analysis. The YJ Board continues to be pleased the the Yellow Jacket Study and will notify the public when copies of the Phase I Report are available.
During Phase I analysis YJ’s consultants discovered a significant error in data previously released by the State of Colorado regarding the identification and tabulation of conditional water rights for the White River. This monumental discovery and the resulting correction impacted and delayed the Phase I analysis and results.
The YJ study results will be an essential tool for all involved in understanding and planning for future water needs within the White River basin. Please call or email Trina Zagar-Brown, secretary-counsel for the Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District at 970-878-5065/[email protected] with additional questions or comments.