(1) Notwithstanding any other law, including section 24-30-1303, C.R.S., and given that thirty-six million dollars have been authorized and appropriated and a purchase agreement has been executed with the United States bureau of reclamation to acquire all of the state's water allocation in the Animas-La Plata project and that the state is a participating member of the Animas-La Plata operation, maintenance, and replacement association, and in order to support and provide long-term water supplies for the local area and to fully utilize the state's water allocation in the Animas-La Plata project, in coordination with the United States bureau of reclamation and the other participating project beneficiaries, the department of natural resources, acting by and through the board, may:
Contract with and allocate Animas-La Plata project water to local entities and waterproviders in Colorado;
Receive and expend proceeds from the sale or lease of Animas-La Plata project waterand land, and any other activities that effectuate the purpose of the acquired project water;
Undertake Animas-La Plata project operations, maintenance, and replacement costs;
Pay the costs of Animas-La Plata project storage or other necessary expenses, otherwise implement the purposes of this subsection (1), and fully utilize the water and storage acquired; and
Undertake such action as necessary to lease, sublease, exchange, sell, assign, or otherwise effectuate the use of the acquired project water in the local area within Colorado.
The state treasurer shall credit all proceeds received under this section and the interest earned from investments of those proceeds to the Colorado water conservation board construction fund created in section 37-60-121 (1)(a), and all such money is continuously appropriated to the board and remains available for the designated purposes until it is fully expended.
(a) In the event of a conflict between the application of state or federal law or rules, including chapter 3 of the state fiscal rules in existence as of June 7, 2010, regarding the money subject to this section, federal law and rules apply.
(b) Nothing in this section precludes the use of water acquired pursuant to this section as part of a joint operational pool for the mutual benefit of all Animas-La Plata project participants.
(4) This section is repealed, effective when the state has no water allocation in the Animas-La Plata project, is not a member of the Animas-La Plata operation, maintenance, and replacement association, and all existing purchases, leases, subleases, or any other of the contractual arrangements that have been executed on behalf of the state's water allocation, have been fully repaid or fulfilled. The director of the board shall file a written notification to the revisor of statutes when the final condition of this subsection (4) has been fulfilled.
Source: L. 2016: Entire section added, (SB 16-174), ch. 163, p. 519, § 15, effective May 16.
Editor's note: As of publication date, the revisor of statutes has not received the notice referred to in subsection (4).