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• Board Meeting Date: 7/11/2007
• Description: ISF Section - Willow Creek and Beaver Creek New Appropriations in Moffat County
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Willow Creek ISF right could have on the future development of the Wilderness Ranch
Subdivision. Staff has worked with Moffat County and the Division and State Engineers'
offices to address these concerns and will summarize the issues in a power point
presentation for the Board's consideration at the meeting.

As per Rule 5d. of the Instream Flow Rules, adopted by the Board, the attached stream segments
are being recommended to the Board for Board action. Staff is requesting the Board declare its
intent to appropriate the recommended instream flows. CWCB staff has reviewed each proposed
stream segment to ensure each flow recommendation and data set was complete and standard
methods and procedures were followed. In addition, staff has completed its map work and water
availability studies.

TECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS

The attached executive summary reports of technical data form the basis for the statlls
recommendations.

Natural Environment Studies

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has conducted field surveys of the natural environment
resources on these streams and have found natural environments that can be preserved. To
quantify the resources and to evaluate instream flow and natural lake level requirements, the
BLM has collected biologic and hydraulic data that were analyzed by the Board staff. Based on
the results of these analyses, the CWCB staff prepared recommendations of the amount of water
necessary to preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree for each of the streams
listed on the attached Tabulations of Instream Flow and Natural Lake Level Recommendations.

W ater Availability Studies

The CWCB staff has conducted an evaluation of water availability for the streams listed. To
detennine the amount of water physically available for the Board's appropriations, the staff
analyzed available USGS gage records, available streamflow models, and/or utilized appropriate
standard methods to develop a hydro graph of mean or median monthly flows for each stream
flow recommendation. Staff also relied upon the flow measurements made as part of the field
survey as an indicator of the amount of water physically available in each stream; analyzed the
water rights tabulation for each stream; and consulted with the Division Engineer's Office to
identify any potential water availability problems. Based upon its analyses, Staff has determined
that water is available for appropriation on each stream and lake to preserve the natural
environment to a reasonable degree without limiting or foreclosing the exercise of valid existing
rights.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION

For each stream listed on the attached Tabulations of Instream Flow and Natural Lake Level
Recommendations, the staff recommends that the Board declare its intent to appropriate in
accordance with Instream Flow Rule 5.d. Staff further recommends that the Board approve the
attached proposed stipulation with T. Wright Dickinson. Finally, staff requests that the Board

Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Finance. Stream and Lake Protection

Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning