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<br />"/ <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />r <br /> <br />;- <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br /> <br />..l"t I' -e 4 ... <br /> <br />""""""'"",~,::::\:::,.:....,.,.,....".""".,.."....,.".., ,. ..",.' ... /' <br />......... <br /> <br />.. - <br />. ........, . <br />'.'.'&....."..." II ' <br />..... '...",'.'0"1'.4 /', A <br />....._ V <br />.... . <br /> <br />~ifJaB~i:--* <br /> <br /> <br />'11111 11111 I I 1111111111111111111111111 II 11111111 11111 111111111 11111 <br /> <br />Vol. ~Isswe 2. <br /> <br />October 1998 <br /> <br />Published quarterly in January. April, July and October <br /> <br />I II II 1111 <br /> <br />II ill <br /> <br />1111111111111111111111 <br /> <br />By Jeff Bsessler <br />CWCB Staff Member <br /> <br />Pilot program will\ be '~eyes ,and ears" for ewes <br /> <br />, \ <br />provide m~tching funds in the form of staff time and expertise, <br />This pilot program, referred to as the "Ad~pt an Instream FloW" <br />monitoring par,tnership, focuses on training volunteers to monitor <br />instream flows and is centered around the following 'five stream'seg- <br />ments: Elkhorn Creek in the Cache la Poudre Basin; South St. Vrain ", <br />Creek in the St. Vrain Basin; Trout creek in the South Platte Basin;' <br />Eagle IUver in the Colorado River Basin; and .ohio Creek in the <br />Gunnison River Basin. <br />. , <br />We base~ our selection'of,pilot streams on a n~mber oHactors, <br />i~cluding accessibility, TU's jnter~st in partic- <br />. ular streams, and input from both the DOW <br />and the Division of, Wate~ Resources. <br />However, ~r primary goal., was to select <br />streams where increased water deve.1opment <br />creates a potential to exercise o,ur administra- <br />tive call. / <br />Most of the pil~t streams now have staff <br />gages in place . and we are currently rating <br />them. _ This fall, we will train volunteers to <br />, , \ ' <br />, read the staff gages. The volunteers will act as <br />the CWCB's "eyes and ears", on the pilot <br />streams by r~J:JOrting low flow conditions. In <br />turn, our staff will communicate with the <br />Division Engineer and' local water commis- <br />siorJrs to determine if the low flow condition <br />warrants placing a c'all on the stream or ifit is <br />_ simply due to senior diversions. <br />Our goal is to continue this monitoring <br />program in the coming years. However, it is <br />, important to'note that this is a pilot program and there are,still a num- <br />ber of kinks to ~6rk'out. We have already experienced a few problems <br />ranging from vandalism tohigh streamflows, which have delayed rat- <br />, / <br />ing of a few gages. <br />This pilot program will' obviously not solve all of the Instream <br />\ .-, <br />Flow Program's monitoring issues, but we believe that we are moving <br />, in the right direction. Using what we learn from the pilot project, we <br />hope to expand the program and get other organizations and v~lun- <br />teers involved inmonito:i~g many more stream~throughout,the state. <br />If you have questio[ls about the program or ~re interested in start- <br />ing a similar program in your area, please rontactjeffBaessler at (303) <br />866-3441 or you can e-mailhimatjeffrey.baessler@state.co.us. . <br /> <br /> <br />As of 1998, the Colorado Water Conservation, Board (CWCB) , <br />. appropriated more than 1,300 streamsegmentsJor in stream <br />, flow protection. Some statistics suggest that this number rep-' <br />I resents 86 percent of all the streams'in Colorado with an average to <br />_ excellent fishery. -~ \ <br />Because the CWCB holds a large number of instream flow wat~r <br />rights, prote'Ction of these rights is a focal point in the administration <br />of the Instream Flow (ISF)'Program. In fact, -, <br />our'staff spends much of its time filing <br />Statements ,of Opposi!ion and resolving <br />cases to ensure the, protection of these <br />instream' flow water rights. We handle this, <br />aspect of protection through legal processes <br />and the water courts. <br />- However, another aspect of pro!e.ction <br />involves "on-the-ground" monitoring of <br />flows to ensure that what is decreed "on <br />paper" is also protected in the'stream. The <br />CWCB has a responsibility, as all water right ' <br />holders, do, to 'provide adeq'uate measuring <br />,devlces for the Division Engineer to adminis- <br />ter the instream flow rights. Unfortunately, <br />due to resource constraints, not all streams <br />with instream flow appropriations have, <br />gages, nor can all of the existing gages be con- <br />tinuously monitored. _ <br />At the Gunnison Water Workshop on <br />Instream Flows in the West in August 1996, 'considerable discussion <br />, , r <br />took place about public involvement in the ISF Program. Many indi- <br />viduals suggested that we' dev~lop an instream flow m-onitoring 'pro- <br />gram similar to the State's Riv:r Watch Program, whereby volu~teers <br />would collect and disseminate flow data to the CWCB. <br />,- In October 1996,_ we began discussions with Colorado Trout <br />Unlimited (TU) on ways to implement such a monitoring effort. <br />Shortly after, TU submitted a grant PJop?sal to Great Outdoors <br />Colorado (GOCO) and subsequently-was awarded a capacity building <br />grant to develop a pilot monitoring partnership. The Silver Trout <br />,FoumJation and Colorado Trout Unlimited provided matching funds. <br />In addition, the CWCB and the Division of Wildlife (DOW) agreed to, <br /> <br />A CWCS e~ployeereads the Elkhom Creek <br />gage for the monitori~g partnership. <br /> <br />/ <br />