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The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) makes decisions regarding the management and development of Colorado's water resources based on Colorado Revised Statutes, rules, resolutions and policies. The Watershed Protection & Flood Mitigation section's mission, duties and responsibilities are clearly established in the following legislative bills, statutes, rules, policies and guidelines.
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The 2006 Construction Fund Bill (HB 06-1313) provides financial assistance for the Weather Modification activities in Colorado. This appropriation gives the CWCB authority to issue $75,000 in grants to water users that sponsor weather modification permits with the sole purpose of water augmentation. HB 06-1313 also expands the CWCB authority to accept contributions to the weather modification appropriation from others. The Weather Modification Grants assist with the development of cloud seeding programs, and work as a cost-share opportunity for operations.
In 2002, the General Assembly created a Watershed Protection Fund to be financed with money from an annual tax check-off. The Fund was created because protecting the natural heritage and quality of life in Colorado are of fundamental importance and locally based collaborative approaches to the restoration and protection of lands and natural resources within Colorado's watersheds can be and should be conducted in concert with economic development. The CWCB manages these funds in cooperation with the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission and in consultation with the Colorado Watershed Assembly in the annual distribution of grants (39-22-2401 to 39-22-2403 C.R.S.).
The CWCB Watershed Protection & Flood Mitigation Program is directed in Section 37-60-106(1) C.R.S. (1990) to prevent flood damages, review and approve floodplain designations prior to adoption by local government entities, and provide local jurisdictions with technical assistance and floodplain information. In addition, an August 1, 1977 Executive Order requires the CWCB and Land Use Commission to provide assistance to entities in meeting the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program.
Article 20, sections § 36-20-101 through 127 of the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) set forth the statutory requirements for the regulatory and permitting aspects for the State of Colorado as they relate to weather modification operational projects.
The CWCB originally promulgated "Rules and Regulations for the Designation and Approval of Floodplains and of Storm or Floodwater Runoff Channels and Basins in Colorado" dated December 11, 1987. The rules became effective January 30, 1988 and provided reasonably uniform standards for the designation and approval floodplains in the state, and to prescribe the process by which floodplains and channels will be designated and approved by the CWCB.
More recently, the CWCB promulgated a revised version of the 1988 rules entitled "Rules and Regulations for Regulatory Floodplains in Colorado" with an effective date of December 2005. The updated rules was not only to provide uniform standards for the designation and approval of regulatory (100-year) floodplains in Colorado, but also to provide standards for activities that may impact floodplain areas in the state. It also stipulates that these rules are of statewide concern to the CWCB and to the State of Colorado.
CWCB staff developed a document entitled Guidelines for Determining 100-Year Flood Flows for Approximate Floodplains in Colorado (Guidelines) as a tool for estimating 100-year flood discharges for approximate floodplains where detailed engineering analyses are limited or unavailable. The Guidelines are designed to provide a streamlined hydrologic procedure for use in the review and designation of approximate floodplain studies and mapping in Colorado. They facilitate the estimation of 100-year flood discharges for approximate floodplains as required by the CWCB's technical standards.
Many of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM'S) and Flood Hazard Boundary Maps (FHBM's) prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Flood Insurance Administration (FIA) include approximate floodplain delineations within Colorado. Those approximate delineations do not have detailed hydrologic information to accompany them and were therefore not previously designated and approved by the CWCB. However, Colorado statutes require that floodplain information to be used by local governments for land use and regulatory purposes must first be designated and approved by the CWCB. The Guidelines permit fulfillment of that statutory requirement by allowing approximate floodplain delineations to meet the CWCB'S hydrologic technical requirements for designation and approval. The use of the Guidelines is restricted to the estimation of 100-year flood discharge values for streams where only approximate floodplain information or no information is available.
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