14d

• Board Meeting Date: 9/17/2008
• Description: Director's Report - CWCB Director
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Annual coordination meetings were requested to help determine priority activities. The action plan
requested by Secretary Norton and one small part of that action plan and response by the Seven Basins
States would be to collectively pursue water augmentation through cloud seeding.
Working collaboratively supporting local initiative we will be able develop the relationships that can
shape this regional long term action plan. The programs, people, and suitable terrain above Lake Powell
make Colorado the centerpiece of this growing effort.
The state-to-state agreements from 2006 and 2007 were historic and gave us the authorities to work
together. This workshop with the stakeholders was an important next step. A similar workshop for the
Gunnison Basin, Colorado Springs Utilities, Denver Water, and the Grand Mesa Water Enhancement
Authority could be on the horizon if requested. Director Whitehead may choose to further elaborate
during the Basin Director's report. Staff would like to thank Director Whitehead and Jane Maxson for
their leadership and coordination assistance. (Kevin Houck
RECENTLY DECREED ISF WATER RIGHTS: On July 24, 2008, the Division 4 Water Court
decreed an instream flow water right to the CWCB on East Fork Spring Creek in Case No. 06CW 167 for
1.8 cfs (April 1-October 31), and 1.6 cfs (November 1-March 31), with an appropriation date of
January 25, 2006. The upstream terminus of the ISF reach is the headwaters and the lower terminus is the
confluence with Spring Creek. The ISF reach is approximately 8.75 miles long. The CWCB entered into a
stipulation with Pacific Desert Partners, LLC for the entry of this decree. (Rod Viehl)
RIVER PROTECTION ~VORKGROUP (RP~V): The River Protection Workgroup and steering
committee continue to meet in order to develop a cooperative river management plan for Hermosa Creek.
The public meetings are the first Tuesday of every month from 6:3 0 pm unti18:3 0 pm. In August, the
RPW heard a presentation from the Colorado Division of Wildlife about their efforts to recovery certain
cutthroat trout species within this watershed. In September, the RPW met to finalize a statement
regarding the values associated with the Hermosa Creek watershed, and to begin conversations about
current protections that are in place. In addition, the RPW submitted a scope of work and request for
funding (of approximately $60,000 from the Wild and Scenic alternatives fund) to the CWCB for
approval. Director Gimbel has approved this request that will fund this effort for several years. The
funds will be used for facilitation, data collection, and support of this collaborative process, in general.
Ted Kowalski and Linda Bassi, continue to provide support and state resources towards this process. The
next RPW public meeting will be on October 7, at 6:30 p.m. (Ted Kowalski)
~YAMPA/WHITE RIVER BASINS
DENYING PARK DAMS PUT POWER IN RAPIDS: If former Colorado congressman Wayne
Aspinall and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had gotten their way, the Yampa River's Warm Springs
Rapids never would have been born.
In the early 1950s, Aspinall was among those supporting the bureau's powerful push for a pair of hydro-
electric dams on the Green River within Dinosaur National Monument. The larger of the two -proposed
just downstream of the Green-Yampa confluence at Echo Park -was considered the wheelhorse of the
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