ISFAPPC01452 ‎(2)‎

• Case Number: 04CW0082
• Stream Name: East Branch Sayres Gulch
• Water Division: 2
• Water District: 11
• County: Chaffee
• Instream Flow App - Doc Type: Supplemental Data

Summary
The information contained in this report and the associated instream flow file folder forms the
basis for staffs instream flow recommendation to be considered by the Board. It is staffs
opinion that the information contained in this report is sufficient to support the findings required
in Rule 5.40.

Colorado's Instream Flow Program was created in 1973 when the Colorado State Legislature
recognized "the need to correlate the activities of mankind with some reasonable preservation of
the natural environment" (see 37-92-102 (3) c.R.S.). The statute vests the CWCB with the
exclusive authority to appropriate and acquire instream flow and natural lake level water rights.
In order to encourage other entities to participate in Colorado's Instream Flow Program, the
statute directs the CWCB to request instream flow recommendations from other state and federal
agencies. The Colorado Division of Wildlife recommended this segment of East Branch Sayres
Gulch to the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. East Branch Sayres Gulch is
being considered for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program because it has a natural
environment that can be preserved to a reasonable degree with an instream flow water right. The
CD OW is very interested in protecting stream flows because East Branch Sayres Gulch is one of
the streams managed by CDOW in the Arkansas River basin that supports a pure greenback
cutthroat trout fishery. The East Branch of Sayres Gulch is identified as a conservation
population for greenback cutthroat trout in the recovery strategy for this species of fish.

East Branch Sayres Gulch is 2.5 miles long. It begins west of Alan Lake at an elevation of
approximately 12,270 feet and terminates at the confluence with Sayres Gulch at an elevation of
approximately 11,000 feet. The entire 2.5 mile segment addressed by this report is located on
federal lands. East Branch Sayres Gulch is located within Chaffee County. The total drainage
area of the creek is approximately 2.75 square miles. East Branch Sayres Gulch generally flows
in a northerly direction.

The subject of this report is a segment of East Branch Sayres Gulch beginning at the Headwaters
and extending downstream to Sayres Gulch (see Map Appendix D). The proposed segment is
located west of Winfield. The staff has received only one recommendation for this segment,
from the CDOW. The recommendation for this segment is discussed below.

Instream Flow Recommendation(s)

CD OW recommended 1.0 cfs, summer and winter, based on its August 14,2003, data collection
effort (see Appendix A). The modeling results from this survey effort are within the confidence
interval produced by the R2Cross model.

Land Status Review

Total Length Land Ownership
Upper Terminus Lower Terminus (miles) % Private % Public
Headwaters Sayres Gulch 2.5 0% 100%

100% of the reach is located on federal lands managed by the USFS.

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