(1) The board shall consist of fifteen members. The executive director of the department of natural resources shall be a voting member ex officio. The attorney general, state engineer, director of the division of parks and wildlife, commissioner of agriculture or designee, and director of said board shall be nonvoting members ex officio. The nine remaining members shall be qualified electors of the state, well versed in water matters, and shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the consent of the senate, for terms of three years; except that no appointment shall be made that does not conform to the requirements of subsections (3) and (4) of this section. Members of the board may not vote by proxy. Pursuant to section 1 of article XII of the state constitution, unless removed according to law, members of the board shall exercise the duties of their office until a successor is duly appointed, qualified, and confirmed. Pursuant to section 6 (1) of article IV of the state constitution, no person appointed by the governor pursuant to this section to a vacancy occurring while the senate is in session may take office until confirmed by the senate. The appointments shall be made in such a manner that the terms of three members shall expire on February 12 of each year. In case any vacancy occurs in the appointed membership of the board, the governor shall appoint a successor to serve the unexpired term of any member of the board within thirty days after the creation of such vacancy.
The appointed members of said board shall be chosen geographically as follows: Four from the western slope and five from the eastern slope; but, of the five members to be appointed from the eastern slope, one shall be from the Rio Grande drainage basin, one from the North Platte drainage basin, one from the Arkansas drainage basin, one from the South Platte drainage basin outside of the city and county of Denver, and one from the city and county of Denver and intimately familiar with its water problems; and that of the four members to be appointed from the western slope, one shall be from the Yampa-White drainage basin, one from the main Colorado drainage basin, one from the Gunnison-Uncompahgre drainage basin, and one from the San Miguel-Dolores-San Juan drainage basins. Each appointed member shall take an oath or affirmation in accordance with section 24-12-101.
To the extent possible, appointments to the board shall include persons representingthe following areas of experience and expertise: Water resource management; water project financing; engineering, planning, and development of water projects; water law; and irrigated farming or ranching. Members of the board shall be residents of the geographic area they represent.
No more than five appointees to the board shall be members of the same politicalparty.
The requirements set forth in subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall be implemented over a three-year period beginning February 12, 1993, so that upon making the appointments for the vacancies which occur on February 12, 1995, all requirements set forth in this section shall have been met.
Source: L. 37: p. 1301, § 3. CSA: C. 173B, §3. L. 45: p. 719, § 1. L. 47: p. 912, § 1. CRS 53: § 148-1-3. C.R.S. 1963: § 149-1-3. L. 67: p. 293, § 1. L. 81: (1) amended, p. 1768, §
1, effective June 16. L. 84: (1) amended, p. 957, § 8, effective May 21. L. 87: (1) amended, p. 1295, § 1, effective July 13. L. 92: Entire section amended, p. 2281, § 1, effective May 27. L. 99: (1) amended, p. 231, § 1, effective August 4. L. 2004: (1) amended, p. 64, § 1, effective March 8; (1) amended, p. 1067, § 1, effective May 21. L. 2018: (2) amended, (HB 18-1138), ch. 88, p. 703, § 43, effective August 8.
Editor's note: Amendments to subsection (1) by House Bill 04-1035 and Senate Bill 04013 were harmonized.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 18-1138, see section 1 of chapter 88, Session Laws of Colorado 2018.