The state's new director of natural resources has made his first big move on water controversies, siding with conservationists in a fight over kayak parks and the role of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The CWCB has asked the Legislature for $150,000 to study recreational in-channel diversions, less than a year after a law to regulate kayak parks went into effect. Kayakers and environmentalists say the CWCB has been hostile to recreational water rights. The board was overruled by Harris Sherman, director of the Department of Natural Resources. He also moved to strengthen the role of the 2-year-old basin roundtables in a study of water availability on the Western Slope.

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