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<br />~ <br /> <br />f <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Page 3 <br /> <br />The U.S. had filed its notice of appeal to provide additional time to review whether to actually <br />pursue an appeal; therefore, this withdrawal is not unexpected. Because no other parties have <br />appealed, this ends the substantive litigation of this matter in federal court. (The U.S. is still <br />working to settle the award of attorneys' fees against it and all parties must still fmalize the bill <br />of costs.) As you may recall, the Court's order set aside the 2003 agreements between the U.S. <br />and Colorado and remanded the decision on how to apply for quantification of the reserved right <br />to the Parks Service. <br /> <br />At this point the U.S. has not indicated what course the Parks Service will take on remand or <br />when they will want to resume the quantification case in Water Division 4. <br /> <br />7. EMJ Squaw Pass. 04CW323 Div. 1 <br /> <br />Staff for the Board has worked with the AG's office, DOW Staff, TV and counsel for the <br />Applicant to negotiate an acceptable injury with mitigation proposal to ensure protection of the <br />Board's instream flow rights on Little Bear and Soda Creek near Idaho Springs. Applicant, a ski <br />and snowboard park located at the site of the Old Squaw Pass ski area approximately 4 miles <br />south of Idaho Springs, has applied for an augmentation plan and conditional exchange right to <br />replace depletions from snowmaking and domestic water uses at the facility. Water Supplies for <br />the operation will originate from a series of ground water wells and two on-site ponds totaling <br />5.5 af. Though the wells are considered tributary to Clear Creek, the stream depletions will be <br />lagged due to the depth and distance of the wells from the streams. EMJ has estimated that its <br />annual diversions of35 acre-feet will result in a stream depletion of2.9afper month, which <br />represents a continuous flow of 22 gallons per minute. <br /> <br />Staff originally worked with the Applicant to develop a mitigation proposal involving the paving <br />of a county road adjacent to Little Bear Creek in order to reduce major sediment loading to both <br />Little Bear and Soda Creeks. The parties subsequently determined that the road paving project <br />was not feasible for a number of reasons and ultimately agreed that a fish stocking project would <br />provide for the best mitigation of the stream depletions caused by Applicant's operations. Under <br />the current proposal, the Applicant will provide $3000 annually for fish stocking and/or stream <br />habitat improvements. The specific mitigation will be determined by the DOW in consultation <br />with Staff and Trout Unlimited. Staff is currently discussing specific details of the proposal with <br />counsel for the Applicant and expects to have a fmalized plan prior to the Board meeting. <br />