PROJ01862

• Contract/PO #: C153491
• Contractor Name: Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 58
• County: Routt
• Bill Number: HB 83-1102
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District

The stagecoach Dam and Reservoir on the Yampa River
sixteen miles south of Steamboat springs, Colorado, was
constructed in 1988 by the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy
District. The project has generated interest from engineers
and environmentalists from allover the world. It was the
tenth Roller Compacted Concrete dam in the United states and
as such has created great interest in the project. By
regulating the flow in the river, it provides a reliable
source of water for agricultural irrigation, water for the
growing municipalities and industries in the valley, and a
power producing hydroelectric plant. Recreation features of
the reservoir are outstanding.

The damming of the river presented challenging
mitigation issues. To compensate for the loss by inundation
of 280 acres of irrigated hay land, classified by EPA as
wetlands, the District had to acquire or provide a like
amount of equivalent wetland acreage. Of the 280 acres
needed to mitigate the lost wetlands, we proposed to create,
on the 80 acres of land we owned, an aquatic wetland habitat
refuge adjoining the upper end of the reservoir. Before the
dam was built this area was irrigated hay meadows. By
over-irrigating the meadows and constructing eight shallow
ponds, fed by gravity from the irrigation ditch, we created a
wetland preserve which has become a magnet for many species
of wildfowl and game. Because the 80 acres of improved
wetlands were superior to the wetlands that had been
inundated, the EPA gave the District a unique bonus by
requiring but one acre of the refuge wetlands to mitigate two
acres of the lost wetlands. We therefore received a credit
of 160 acres against the 280 required to be mitigated. The
balance of 120 came from acguiring riparian lands along the
Yampa River and donating them to The Nature Conservancy.

The District has leased the preserve to the Colorado
Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation (DPOR). The DPOR
has entered into an agreement with the District and the
Colorado Division of wildlife (DOW) for joint management of
the area. The wetlands mitigation area includes a number of
related parts: 1) it is and will remain a functional
wetland, 2) it is a public recreational area, and 3) it is a
wildlife management area.

Phone: [phone]

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Steamboat Springs, Colorado 80488-0339