20 ‎(4)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 5/21/2008
• Description: WSP Section - Wild and Scenic River Updates
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO
Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.us
Bill Ritter, Jr.
TO: Colorado Water Conservation Board Members
Governor
Harris D. Sherman
FROM: Ted Kowalski and Linda Bassi
DNR Executive Director
Jennifer L. Gimbel
DATE: May 12, 2008
CWCB Director
Dan McAuliffe
Agenda Item 20, May 20-21, 2008 Board Meeting
SUBJECT:
CWCB Deputy Director
Water Supply Protection – Wild and Scenic River
Updates
Background
At the March 2008 Board meeting, the Board disc ussed the various federal processes wherein
certain federal agencies are considering the eligib ility and suitability of many streams within the
State of Colorado for wild and scenic designa tion. In March, the Board provided further
guidance to staff on how to procee d within the various processes. This memo provides an update
on those processes.
A. Little Snake Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) field office Resource
Management Plan (“RMP”)
. In the Yampa basin, the Little Snake BLM field office has begun
analyzing the RMP alternatives, and the BLM hopes to issue a Final Environmental Impact
Statement (“FEIS”) and Final Management Plan in December 2008. Various stakeholders in the
Yampa basin have been meeting to develop an alternative for protec ting the Outstandingly
Remarkable Values (“ORVs”), which could resu lt in the BLM’s determining that the Yampa
River mainstem is not suitable for wild and scen ic designation. However, this stakeholder group
has decided that additional meeti ngs are no longer warranted at th is time. As a result, the CWCB
staff and Department of Natural Resources (“DNR ”) did not write to BLM to request additional
time to develop alternatives. The CWCB Staff will continue to monitor the BLM process but,
unless the stakeholders reconsider their positions, the stakeholde r group has no plans to continue
its work on developing resour ce protection alternatives.
B. Kremmling and Glenwood Spr ings BLM field offices’ RMPs.
Within the Colorado River
basin, there are two different BLM field offi ces (Kremmling and Glenwood Springs) that are
considering different river segments for suitability . With regard to these processes, the CWCB
Staff (Ted Kowalski, Linda Bassi, and Jeff Bae ssler) has continued to attend meetings with
various stakeholders, representing environmenta l interests, local governments, recreational
interests, federal agencies, state agencies, and water providers, to explore alternatives for
protecting the ORVs. The Colora do River Group (“CRG”) has been meeting often to meet the
BLM’s aggressive schedule. Recently, the BLM de layed its schedule by at least one month, with
a current due date of alternativ es to be submitted by June 30, 2008. As a result, the CWCB staff
and DNR have not requested additional time at this juncture. The group is still in the process of
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