From The Yuma Pioneer (Tony Rayl):
The fate of Bonny, located in extreme southeastern Yuma County between Idalia and Burlington, was a topic of conversation during the Republican River Water Conservation District Board of Directors meeting, last Thursday, October 14, in Wray. The fate of Colorado’s proposed compact compliance pipeline also was a conversation piece. Arbitrator Martha Pagel presented her findings October 7, from the pipeline trial held in Kansas City…
The board elected to hold off on making any decision until January’s quarterly meeting in regards to whether or not to move forward with the pipeline. There is hope Colorado and Kansas can continue to negotiate following Pagel’s ruling, and reach an agreement in which Kansas will approve the pipeline plan. The crediting issue is a key sticking point as Colorado had hoped to get 100 percent credit for all the pipeline water sent down the North Fork of the Republican River. Kansas had argued Colorado should receive 80 to 90 percent credit due to the negative impact of pumping water from the underground aquifer to feed the pipeline. The arbitrator had suggested the two states find a middle ground.
As for Bonny, its fate seems sealed after Pagel upheld Kansas’ point that the pipeline to the North Fork cannot make up for Colorado’s shortages on the South Fork. “Until Bonny Reservoir is drained, Colorado will not meet this test,” RRWCD engineer Jim Slattery told the board during its meeting last week, referring to the South Fork Sub-basin Impairment Test. The surface water at Bonny works against Colorado in regards to its allocation on the South Fork. When asked later in the meeting, Slattery said draining Bonny should solve the South Fork issue forever. If so, that would leave little left for Kansas to object to in regards to the pipeline. Attorney David Robbins asked Pete Ampe of the Attorney General’s Office if the arbitrator’s ruling forced a decision on Bonny. Ampe said it does, and the Department of Natural Resources was talking to the federal Department of the Interior about that issue. The RRWCD has been pushing for the draining of Bonny the past few years. Robbins noted that Pagel’s ruling actually helps with getting that done.
More Republican River basin coverage here.