WSP08870 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

003101 :'1 E M 0 RAN D ~O~OWER WAtER ,~, "1' :;.,'! CE. SO.Ll\~..) ,)...' TO: MYR~1J B. HOLBtm,T\BU FROM: VE~N\~.\Uf~~~?!NE :~UBJECT: MeJ.tl.ng with Forest Service on Management for Increased Water June 9, 1980 Vegetative Yield On June 4, I met with representatives of the Rocky Mountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service at the Regional Headquarters in Lakewood, Colorado. Dean Johanson, Executive Secretary of Pacific Southwest Inter-Agency Committee (PSIAC) also accompanied ~e to the meeting. Sid Hanks, Assistant Regional Forester, con- :lucted most of the meeting on behalf of the Forest Service, and ~as assisted by staff members Milt Robinson, Redd Giffen, Bob :1ulvaney, and Lee Silvey. The meeting was also attended by Pete Stender, Hydrologist for the Inter-Mountain Regional Office of che Forest Service in Ogden, Utah. Hanks started the meeting by describing current activities of his regional o~'fire. He said that the Rocky Mountain Region has , firm commitment to water yield increases, has been conducting 'lxperiments for many years on such improvements on the Fraz,ier Experimental Forest in Colorado, and has just developed a pilot project on the Encampment drainage in Wyoming. In this project, the Forest Service plans to test water yield increases on an experimental forest of approximately 10,000 acres fron vegetative ~anagement, whereas the Frazier project was less than a thousand 'lcres. The Regional Forest also has been looking at the possibilities Jf using snow fences and other structures in the high alpine areas, as well as management of the non-commercial forest coverage areas. Hanks said that the Regional Forest has been eager to get input from concerned members of the public with regard to its water yield improvement effort, but the letters from the Colorado River Board and PSIAC have been essentially the first such interest shown by water agencies. He pointed out that other interests are very vocal in presenting requests for activities in the forest, and, ~hile the Forest Service recognizes the public in general, does ~ot get vocal on such measures as increases in water yield, that the agencies with water resources responsibilities should do so. I presented background information on the concerns felt by the Colorado River Board and by PSIAC with regard to water supplies in the Colorado River Basin, as being the basis for our support of studies of water yield improvement through vegetative management. In response to questions from the Forest Service personnel, I gave a brief description of the Colorado River Compact, and how its term govern the apportionment of water within the Colorado River Basin. I also made reference to the Colorado River Basin Project C-2l .h '-----___~_,