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February 14, 2022 SB 22-114
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Fiscal Note
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 22-0535
Sen. Hisey; Story
Rep. Roberts; Catlin
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
February 14, 2022
Senate Agriculture
Josh Abram | 303-866-3561
Josh.Abram@state.co.us
Bill Topic: FIRE SUPPRESSION PONDS WATER RIGHTS
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☒ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill allows a board of county commissioners to apply to the State Engineer to have
certain ponds designated as fire suppression ponds. The bill increases state and local
expenditures beginning in FY 2022-23.
Appropriation
Summary:
For FY 2022-23, the bill requires an appropriation of $19,428 to the Department of
Natural Resources.
Fiscal Note
Status:
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts Under SB 22-114
Budget Year
FY 2022-23
Out Year
FY 2023-24
Revenue - -
Expenditures General Fund $19,428 $13,146
Transfers - -
Other Budget Impacts General Fund Reserve $2,914 $1,972
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February 14, 2022 SB 22-114
Summary of Legislation
The bill allows a board of county commissioners to apply to the State Engineer in the Division of Water
Resources in the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the designation of a pond within the
county as a fire suppression pond. Fire suppression ponds must be inspected annually by the county
and fire protection district.
Prior to application, commissioners must consult with its fire protection district to identify ponds in
areas that have a high risk of wildfire damage, and perform a needs assessment on potential
suppression ponds, including identifying refill mechanisms such as groundwater pumping or surface
diversions. For each pond under consideration by a county, the commissioners must notify the State
Engineer and all interested parties included in the substitute water supply plan notification list for the
water division in which the pond is located. Interested persons have 35 days to provide comments to
the county commissioners or the State Engineer concerning the proposed designation. Ponds must
have existed prior to 1975 for designation, are not considered a property right, and cannot create injury
to an existing vested water right.
Before May 1, 2023, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is required to seek input from various
stakeholders and adopt rules establishing criteria for counties to use to identify and evaluate potential
ponds. The bill outlines the process and deadlines for the State Engineer to consider applications,
issue decisions and denials, and designate, renew or rescind fire suppression ponds.
Except for addressing dam safety concerns, the state engineer must not order a pond to be drained or
backfilled if it is under consideration as a fire suppression pond, has been so designated by the State
Engineer, or until the Division of Fire Prevention and Control in DPS adopts rules for fire suppression
ponds.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state General Fund expenditures in DNR by $19,428 in FY 2022-23, and by $13,146
in FY 2023-24. Expenditures are displayed in Table 2 and described below.
Table 2
Expenditures Under SB 22-114
FY 2022-23 FY 2023-24
Department of Natural Resources
Temporary Personal Services - $13,146
Legal Services (Department of Law) $11,828 -
Computer Programming (OIT) $7,600 -
Total Cost $19,428 $13,146
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February 14, 2022 SB 22-114
For FY 2022-23, the DNR will require legal services from the Department of Law to assist with rule
making, estimated at 120 hours at a blended rate of $98.57. The DNR will also purchase 40 hours at
the rate of $190 per hour for computer programming from the Office of Information Technology (OIT).
These costs also include developing an application form and workflow process, and making
modifications to the database user interface.
For FY 2023-24, the DNR will employ temporary staff to assist with processing applications from
counties. This elevated workload is expected to recur in FY 2024-25; however, in out years, the number
of county applications is anticipated to be minimal. Temporary personal services are estimated at
420 hours at $31.30 an hour.
Other Budget Impacts
General Fund reserve. Under current law, an amount equal to 15 percent of General Fund
appropriations must be set aside in the General Fund statutory reserve beginning in FY 2022-23. Based
on this fiscal note, the bill is expected to increase the amount of General Fund held in reserve by $2,914
in FY 2022-23, and by $1,972 in FY 2023-24, which will decrease the amount of General Fund available
for other purposes.
Local Government
Counties will have increased workload to conduct needs assessments and manage the application
process with the State Engineer. Once fire suppression ponds have been designated, there may be
additional requirements for counties to annually inspect ponds and maintain the designation. Not all
counties will participate in the program, and mountain communities are more likely to have available
ponds for designation. The eastern plains areas traditionally have irrigation wells, ditches, and
municipal water supplies available for fire use, so applications are expected to be minimal.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming no
referendum petition is filed.
State Appropriations
For FY 2022-23, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $19,428 to the Department of Natural
Resources. Of this amount, $11,828 is reappropriated to the Department of Law for legal services, and
$7,600 is reappropriated to the Office of Information Technology for computer programming.
State and Local Government Contacts
Counties Information Technology Law
Natural Resources Public Safety
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit: leg.colorado.gov/fiscalnotes.