09d

• Board Meeting Date: 3/18/2008
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

The full report can be viewed at:
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prair•ie/crrip/doch•epcongress/Secretary'sRe portCongress. doc
DOI COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION AWARD -The Upper Colorado River and San Juan
River Recovery Programs have been selected to receive the Cooperative Conservation Award from the
Department of the Interior this year. The award ceremony will be on April 21, followed by a workshop
on April 22-23 at which presenters will share their experiences and best practices for collaboration and
partnering to achieve conservation outcomes. This is a prestigious award and special thanks should be
given to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director, Steve Guertin, for his support of this
nomination. I want to congratulate all the program participants and thank them for all their hard work.
would also like to mention that this past January 21st marked the 20~` anniversary of the signing of the
cooperative agreement for the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program.
UPPER COLORADO AND SAN JUAN RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION
PROGRAMS D.C. BRIEFING TRIP -The annual briefing trip is March 5-11, with over 30
meetings scheduled. This annual trip is made to seek support for the appropriations necessary to keep the
Recovery Programs operating. The visit this year will also involve discussion of proposed amendments
to the programs' long-term funding legislation (P.L. 106-392) to: 1) add $15M to the Upper Basin
program for any needed rehabilitation and replacement of capital facilities and the additional costs
associated with the construction of the Tusher Wash fish screen; 2) add $12M to the San Juan program for
protection of critical habitat from the rock slide west of Farmington and any needed repair and
replacement of capital facilities; 3) recognize additional non-federal cost-sharing of $56M (in the form of
credits for lost power revenues); and 4) extend the authorization period for both programs to 2023. This
year's briefing book can be found at:
http://v«wv.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/crrip/doc/dc/Highlights2007-2008. pdf
MEASURE WOULD PROTECT RIGHTS OF LANDOWNERS WHO LEND WATER -
Landow~ners who want to lease or donate water to keep streams flowing can do so without fear of risking
their water rights under a bill approved in a House committee Wednesday. Under HB1280, water rights
owners who lend or lease water to the Colorado Water Conservation Board to preserve or improve stream
flows would be excluded under consumptive use laws and will not be considered an abandonment of
water rights. "In the past, people have blamed the irrigators for the sorry condition of the river," said
Randy Carver, board president for the Montezuma Valley Irrigation Co., which is on the Dolores River in
Southwest Colorado. The bill, which had no opposition, also requires the state's water courts to find that
the owner of the rights has not entered into an agreement for speculative purposes when evaluating a
water change decree.
FLOOD RISK RISES AS SNOW PACK SHRINKS -Human-caused global warming has been
shrinking the snowpack across the mountain ranges of the West for five decades, suggesting that the
region's long battle for water will only worsen, according to a computer analysis released recently.
As temperatures have increased, more winter precipitation has fallen as rain instead of snow, and the
snow is melting sooner, reported the study published in the journal Science.
The result is that rivers are flowing faster in the spring, raising the risk of flooding, and slower in the
summer, raising the risk of drought.
The changes will be felt differently in different parts of the West, scientists said.
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