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INTRODUCTION OBJ ECTI VES This document combines the efforts of several individuals, agencies, and organizations toward a common objective: the identification, description, and preliminary evaluation of promising opportunities for protecting instream uses of water under existing laws in Colorado and Wyoming. This report is intended for the use of State and Federal planning and management personnel who need an overview of potential opportunities for preserving instream flows. It is not intended to replace or challenge the advice of agency counsel, nor is it written to provide legal advice. Instead, it is designed as a guide for the person trying to find his or her way among sometimes bewildering State statutes and administrative practices. This report is not, and should not be taken as, official policy or prediction of future actions by any agency. It is simply a summary of some potential opportunities for protecting instream uses. Toward these objectives, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through its Water Resources Analysis Project, contracted in 1977 with Richard Dewsnup and Dallin Jensen to identify available strategies under State and Federal laws, interstate compacts, and water quality laws. A second firm, Enviro Control, Inc., was contracted to evaluate the most promising strategies. Two of the resulting documents were Instream Flow Strategies for Colorado and Instream Flow Strategies for Wyoming, which have been revised, updated, and combined in this report. Discussion of instream flow programs and opportunities for each State--Colorado and Wyoming--are written so that each report can be read independently, with minimal cross referencing from one State report to another. BACKGROUND CONSIDERATIONS Both State and Federal agencies have important roles to play in water management, particularly in instream flow preservation. This report is written from the perspective that the States have primary authority over water manage- ment, unless they are 1 imited or superceded by an act of Congress or duly authorized Federal program or project. The summari es offered here are not intended to suggest that Federal instream flow decisions will or should replace current State water administra- tion or management systems. It is important for Federal employees to recognize the importance of State water management policy and statutes. A close working relationship between State and Federal agencies is often the most practical way of getting things accomplished. Resources are always limited and, in some cases, gathering and developing information may be beyond the financial power 1