WSP09191 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

". Otn 377 YAMPA RIVb-< AI;';:>ItAIVIOUf'\1 Fl,..C>,^, av VVA-::\> -)VEAR I 600 ~ ." ~ dOO ~I 3CD I 200 100 . / 'I o Oct. Nov. Dee. .)an. Feb. MoIch ~rI M<rf June JuIV Aug. s..:-t. Montn Th ears 1984 1977 and 1992 through June are represented on e y ove chart: Stream flow is measured In acre feet, which Is a the abe measurement. Note the relatively low flow 01 the Vampa :I~~ this year An Insufflclent water supply to satisfy Indust~al and municipal ~sers downstream could precipitate a call on t e Vampa for tile flrst time. 68 THE STEAMBOAT PILOT Stsaml>oat spring., CoIo,. Tlllnday, July 23. 1992 . -Futu:re ~ater s'uPPb..ly. LOWWA7ERLMLS. soui~i In Y amp.. a .'aSIA-:. The June stt:eam flow levels for , 8;1 the Vampa River at Steamboat · f .. ff . Springs is already below normal, Expansion 0 reservOIrs m omg whi~couldcauaerecordlowlev' . ela m August and. September. . Many local farmers and ranchers are concemed, as there may be insuftlcient stream flows to irri. gate hay and wheat fields ~. harvest. The National Weather Service reports June precipitation at 61%. of average, though the statewide reservoir storage was 108% of average on JUly 1. According to the state Di~sion of Water Re- sources, the near averilge to above average reservoir storage situation may. be the only bright spot in this season's water sup- ply. Water users with storage will likely be drawing on their sup- en- plies this summer, it predicts. Low stream flows could also neg- atively effect recreational inter- ests in the area for the latter por- tion of the summer. The National Weather Service 30-day forecast calls. for above normal precipitation and below normal temperatures over all but the extreme southwest portion of the state. Area ranchers have been enjoying the abundant July min, except, of course, when it has caught them with their hay down. by DWIGHT.WILLL\MS In the western states, water is rarely too plentiful. A study just released, by the Colorado River Water Conservation District pro- vides several alternatives for dealing with water deficit prob- lems in the Yampa River Basin. The purpose of the study was to re~sw altematives for devel. opment of the Juniper Reservoir water rights, which would serve present and future water de. mands in the Yamna River Basin. What has been -hoped for is an equitable solution in mak- ing a portion of those water rights available to conversion to in-stream flows. This would ben- efit the native plants and fish of Colorado without infringing on the needs of water users. . Public meetings are planned for Wednesday, July 29, at 7:30 p.m., and Thursday, July 30, at 9 a.m. Both meetings are sched- uled to be held at the Craig Holi- day Inn. Public comment is wel- come for resource development in the Yampa River Basin. Ray Tenney, the CRWCD wa- ter resource engineer, said the primary purpose of the meetings is to collect public input, as well as "show how we came up with the preJiminary decision of en- larging Elkhead, and how we might do the same to Stagecoach Rjllji:lPMJnil"" PROPOSED SOLUT10NS After developing demand pro- jections and many potential reservoir sites, five sites. were . selected for more detailed evalu- ation. The evaluations were based on the water demand pro- . jections for a 25.year and 50.year horizon. The five sites include: . Elkhead Reservoir enlarge- ment . East Fork Reservoir . Williams Fork Reservoir near Hamilton . Elk Creek Reservoir . Stagecoach Reservoir largement The demand projections were based on interpretations of actual records and the future demand scenarios. From the available data, a model was created, and the results were reviewed to identifY stream segments which might experience less than de- sired flows when water ex- changes were taking place. According to the model results, the area most likely impacted from the changes is the reaches just below Hayden and just above Elkhead Creek. .J.