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Page 4 The Meeker Herald Thursday, August 2,1990 o <:::;) W t'.,) oo",J 00 ; Yampa River Basin Alternatives r&1sibility Study region. ConsideraO ~ill b e given representative on the Public Advi- to a facility for the Clliig area which soryGroup should contact EricKuhn will provide both _r for people at the Colorado River Water Con- and to benefit the interest in recrea- servation District in Glenwood tion. Springs at 303/945-8522. The study will be directed by committee members from the Colo- rado River District, Colorado Water Conservation Board, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, The Nature Conser- vancy, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Serv- ice and the "Recovery Program." A consultant has been retained to complete the technical aspects of the study. The Colorado River Water Con- ~ servation District, the West Slope's :: primary water agency, owns exten- : sive waterrights on theYampa River : associated with the proposed Juni- ~ per-Cross Mountain hydroelectric ~ project. The likelihood of that proj- ~ ect being constructed has been im- :. pacted by the designation of endan- gered species habitat through :: stretches of the Yampa. ;: A number of water user organiza- f tions, including the River District, : have been involved for some time in ~ the "Recovery program for Endan- : gered Fish Species in the Upper : Colorado River." The acquisition of : water rights on the Yampa River for : instream flows has become a high ,priority of this recovery program. : Converting a portion of River Dis- , trict decrees to instream flow pur- , poses is under consideration, There ,are those who believe this would help in the overall program goal of recovering the endangered fish spe- cies. The District has agreed to a plan to examine ways the Juniper-Cross Mountain decrees could be used to support the development of a stor- age project off the mainstream Yampa ill the vicinity of Craig. Any plan must address withholding a portion of the District's decrees for future development within the Yampa River Basin while allocating a significant portion of the decrees to protect flows and habitat for endangered fishes. If this kind of a program can be worked out, it would benefit the Yampa River while aid- ing in the recovery of endangered fish to benefit all users of the Colo- rado River system within the state. A tWO-year study is just begin- ning which will determine water needs in themainstem YampaRiver Basin for the next 30 years, The objective of the study is to identify water rights and storage facilities to serve future water demands in the .;;';";';;";';';.I;;';";'~;';";"J.;.;;.;,.~;.;.:;.;.:.:.,.~;..,r.....:.............";.................................................... r,O'... r...... r.. or r...... U'O' "....O' .. ................... r" Public input to the study will be solicited through a Public Advisory Group to be organized early in the study process to assure their par- ticipation in development of the study. Public meetings are planned for Craig to present the study proc- ess and receive public comment. Groups interested in having a r-