HIGH DESERT CONSERVATION DISTRICT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS REGULAR MEETING AGENDA Aug 9, :00-6:00 pm USDA SERVICE CENTER

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1 HIGH DESERT CONSERVATION DISTRICT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS REGULAR MEETING AGENDA Aug 9, :00-6:00 pm USDA SERVICE CENTER Planting Seeds of Inspiration to Promote Conscious Stewardship of our Natural Resources NOTICE OF A REGULAR BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING HIGH DESERT CONSERVATION DISTRICT PURSUANT TO (CRS ) OF THE Colorado GOVERNMENT CODE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT: The Regular Meeting of the board of supervisors of the HIGH DESERT CONSERVATION DISTRICT will be at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, Aug 9, 2016 at the USDA Service Center, 628 West 5th, Cortez, Colorado and the following items of business will be considered and acted upon: 4:00 CALL TO ORDER - Joanne APPROVAL OF AGENDA INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS Ken Lausten 4:15 STAFF REPORTS Justin - Written Report Travis- Written Report and Discussion NRCS REPORT - Joel Lee Written Report and Discussion 4:30 OFFICER REPORTS President Joanne County Commissioner Meeting 7/18/16 Vice-President Suzanne Treasurer Steve o Approval/Acknowledgement of Bill Payments-Bank Statements Available o Internet Service- On-line Payment Resolution Secretary Steve o Approval/correction of July meeting minutes BOARD MEMBER REPORTS 5:00 DISTRICT MANAGER REPORT Judy Filling out hours on revised APW Written report - Discussion 5:15 OLD BUSINESS Basin Roundtable Report - Steve Moving forward with weed program - Steve Southwest Agricultural Seminar - Ashley

2 5:30 NEW BUSINESS CACD Resolution Attached Comments Requested Weed Control Campaign collaboration Steve Signs for HDCD and watershed-judy 6:00 ADJOURN Joanne Executive Session NEXT WORKGROUP MEETING: TBD Location TBD NEXT BOARD MEETING: Sept 13, 2016 USDA Service Center 4:00 6:00 The High Desert Conservation Board may convene in executive session on any of the above items in accordance with (CRS ) Colorado Sunshine Act. Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need auxiliary aids or services such as interpreters for persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, readers, large print or Braille, are requested to contact Judy Garrigues at (970) two (2) days prior to the meeting so that appropriate arrangements can be made. The Public is invited to attend this meeting.

3 HIGH DESERT CONSERVATION DISTRICT District Manager Report Regular Meeting August 9, :00-6:00pm USDA Service Center Conference Room Planting Seeds of Inspiration to Promote Conscious Stewardship of our Natural Resources Take a few minutes to fill in time sheets for Quote of the month Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not. ~Dr. Seuss FINANCIAL INFO The resolution to purchase a $50,000 certificate of deposit that will mature in 12 months with Four Corners Community Bank is in place. No rate increase has been announced by the bank. CORPORATE/LEGISLATIVE San Juan Basin watershed is asking for any resolutions or business topics to be discussed at the bi-annual meeting in September. Please bring your thoughts to the August Board meeting. Gretchen and I discussed signage at entrance to Conservation Districts and will try to come up with something to present at the watershed. The thought was to promote each District individually but also show them as a part of the watershed. Supervisor Lists and Volunteer Hours due Sept 1 STAFF Travis Custer Written Report and Discussion Justin Bonnell Written Report BOARD MEMBER RECRUITMENT Steve met with Ken Lausten and is very excited to have Ken join us at the August meeting. PROJECTS/GRANTS - HDCD No Till Drill/Direct Seeder - Steve went on-site with producer to trouble shoot. Square credit card allows customers to respond when I send an receipt Steve received overwhelming Kudos from this producer! Thanks, Steve! CSCB-Basin Salinity Program Current plan is to ask for additional Basin staff if recommended by Joel or if that position can enhance a water project grant. CSCB-Covercrop Matching Grant Quarterly report sent to CSCB, ed to Board members. CSCB-DCT Program Renewal application due Aug 19 th. Travis has been in the field in the Full Service Area (FSA) measuring pivot flow, assessing distribution efficiency and gathering other data for Rod Clark, NRCS Area 1 engineer. Data is needed to challenge NRCS specs for funding pivots in our area. This activity feeds into requests from DWCD and FSA farmers to acquire NRCS funding for pivots that has not been available previously. CERA. Has been put on hold until more commitment is shown. It is clear that this project needs a focused coordinator and active regular participation in development.

4 Retail Sales I ordered 6 weed barrier and anchor pins. We will not have to turn anyone away. Direct Assistance - Waiting to learn of award for work done in Long Range and APW are due at the end of December. It may be wise to include large weed component to encourage funding from the county. SWCD Next funding requests due: Sept. 16 deadline for the Oct. 11 Board Meeting Tree Sales - Continuing to add names to list High Tunnel Gathering Thirteen additional high tunnels approved by NRCS for Annual Meeting SW Ag Seminar workgroup voted to include annual meeting at lunch during the seminar. It will be held Oct 22 and Brendan Rocky will be keynote speaker. Master Steward Mail chimp invite for Aug 18 workshop was sent to over 600 people.john Rizza sent personal invites to Master Land Steward graduates. This is a great event for Board members to learn more about the Research center, support CSU Small Acreages, and promote the District. SW Basin Roundtable Steve attended meeting on the 13 th and will report at the Board meeting. PROJECTS/GRANTS/OUTREACH OTHER The matching grant from CSCB for the second year of the covercrop grant was submitted Friday. We should know by the end of October. Steve and I have met with Bonnie (noxious weed control manager) to develop a weed campaign and take advantage of current weed awareness. We have a rudimentary beginning and approach to create awareness of the problem and develop some public desire to be a part of the solution. Signage is key We choose to be Stewards of the Land are signs that can acknowledge landowners efforts. We now have business cards with the correct phone number and hats. ANNOUNCEMENTS Cheat grass control informational meeting scheduled for the 21 st in Cortez. was cancelled in the final hour. It is my understanding that CDA strongly recommended Bio West not present anywhere in the state until the product is officially approved. I don t know anymore of the details. Meeting with Commissioners Steve, Joanne, and I met with the commissioners on the 18 th. We thanked them for financial support and covered completed activities this year; 1)Cultural resources bottleneck now being addressed, 2)Master Land Steward Course, 3)Covercrop demonstration trials begun, 4) Collaboration with water Sheriff on irrigation water conflicts, 5)IWM workshops, 6)Soil health workshops, 7)Continued Seed Drill rental. We talked about the upcoming events and activities planned;1) Master Land Steward and upcoming field day, 2) Second Annual SW Ag Seminar 3)FSA farm involvement in our water efficiency and pivot assessments, 4)Collaboration with Bonnie on a noxious weed management initiative. We also focused on the economic benefit to the county from the funds we leverage from CSCB and NRCS.

5 I will be out of the office Aug 24 through the 31 st visiting the smartest, most handsome grandsons in the universe. PROJECT PLANS FOR COMING MONTH Evaluation and Field Trip plans for Master Land Steward Retail DCT reimbursement and grant requirements i.e. District Publicity DCT renewal app. Continue update of APW activities

6 HIGH DESERT CONSERVATION DISTRICT BASIN SALINITY PROGRAM MONTHLY REPORT FOR July 2016 Employee Name: Justin Bonnell Position Title: Conservation Technician; Technical Assistance Submitted: 8/03/16 July was extremely eventful, both in my personal life (new baby!) and in work. There was a learning curve for several new projects consisting of pivot and pond designs both practices that are not implemented in a frequency that pipe hydraulic design s are. This lends itself to a lot of reading and research of standards set by the NRCS on a national level. Ponds in particular have both NRCS standards and state standards with strict guidelines on how to construct these earthen damns. Implementing pivot sprinkler technology has not been carried out by the Montezuma NRCS office in large frequencies but has been something that the District and NRCS office have started looking at as technology and conservation practices meet at a confluence. This also means reading of specifications and standards to understand how to properly analyze field slopes and soils types to ensure soil conservation practices are being followed and applied correctly. The tech s are also reviewing nozzle packages and designs from the manufactures, and data will be taken on existing pivots to help evaluate the model that is being provided with the pairing of real life data taken in the field. This is an important step to take in analyzing the performance of a pivot sprinkler on soil types that are inherent to Montezuma County. Travis Custer has been collecting data and evaluating areas that are already in use which in return will provide the NRCS in Montezuma County with invaluable data confirming or contradicting the information already in existence. These steps are being made to help facilitate the clients in the Dolores project area that are looking to the NRCS for guidance and support on pivot sprinkler designs. All this information combined will provide a big picture of how the soils and technology are interacting with each other.

7 2016 RESOLUTION FORM Title of Resolution: District Submitting: Support of TU Colorado Statewide Water Plan Policy Goals San Juan Conservation District This new Resolution is: (check one) Policy Amendment Please identify related section of Policy Book to insert Amendment: XX New Policy Please identify related section of Policy Book to insert new policy: Action Item Please identify related section of Policy Book if applicable; be specific regarding what action and time line is expected: Background on the need for this Resolution: Whereas, Colorado adopted a state-wide water plan; And healthy West Slope rivers and streams are vital to Colorado communities and agriculture; Whereas, Trout Unlimited s Our Colorado River program espouses five core values, which are in agreement with the Conservation District s values, all of which are reflected in the Colorado Water Plan; Cooperation, Not Conflict: Work together to ensure the Colorado River is able to meet our diverse needs, from agriculture to recreation and tourism; Protect Our Quality of Life: Maintain our open spaces through a vigorous agricultural sector and ensure that our river and streams are flowing and healthy; Modernize Irrigation: Upgrade our aging irrigation infrastructure systems to make them more productive, economical, and habitat-friendly; Innovative Management: Explore new ways to meet our water supply needs through innovative conservation and management practices;

8 Keep our Rivers at Home: Leave water in its home basins and oppose new, large-scale, river-damaging transbasin diversions of water from the Colorado River to the Front Range; Whereas, citizens of western Colorado have a lot to gain by working cooperatively to meet water needs and maintain healthy rivers and streams; 2016 RESOLUTION: Therefore be it resolved, that CACD support and work with Trout Unlimited and other partners on policy goals that will help implement these values in the Colorado Water Plan: 1. Colorado law makers should encourage and financially support farmers and ranchers to modernize irrigation infrastructure and implement innovative water management practices. To achieve that goal, we need legal reforms that remove disincentives and protect water rights, as well as new funding for irrigation improvement projects such as securing and maintaining funding for the CSCB Matching Grants program, even in the event that severance taxes decline. 2. Colorado water leaders and law makers need to create funding mechanisms to compensate producers who modernize their irrigation and, as a result, leave more water in the stream to benefit stream flows and downstream water users without injury to other water rights holders. 3. With annual funding from the General Assembly and Colorado Water Conservation Board, western Colorado communities should create stream management plans that ensure that all local water needs are met in the face of increasing regional demands. Communities that speak with a common voice will have greater control over their water futures. CACD will direct our lobbyist to work diligently and persistently in the 2016 and following legislative sessions until this goal is accomplished. Contact information for Conservation District submitting Resolution: District: San Juan Conservation District Date: July 13, 2016 District Manager: Cynthia Purcell Phone: cynthia.purcell@co.nacdnet.net District President: R.D. Hott