Agenda Item 20b: Colorado River Issues, Endangered Species Issues

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STATE OF COLORADO Colorado Wate r Department of 721 Centennial Building 1313 Sherman Street Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone: (303) 866 -3441 FAX: (303) 866-4474 Conservation Board Natural Resources Agenda Item 20b Attachment 1 MEMORANDUM To: 15 -Mile Reach Strategy Workgroup From: Peter Evans �)�� Date: May 1, 1997 Roy Romer Governor James S. Lochhead Executive Director, DNR Daries C. Lite, P.E. Direclor, CWCB Re: Summary of 15 -Mile Reach Strategy Meetings: March 3 and April 1 7, 1997. March 3, 1997, Meeting At the March 3, 1997, meeting of the 15 -Mile Reach Strategy Workgroup, we reviewed the latest version of the "working proposal" (dated February 13, 1997) and a set of "basic tenets" and RIPRAP items suggested by the water users. It was agreed that these are still just concepts we are exploring to identify potentially significant problems, and that no one has agreed to support these yet, especially with respect to their particular details. There did, however, seem to be very strong support for a conclusion to the 15- Mile Reach consultation which provides certainty for existing uses and for future uses (up to approximately 100,000- 120,000 acre -feet) as they occur. The accounting mechanism which will address flow - related benefits of RIPRAP items still requires clarification. The FWS indicated their reluctance to accept the proposed premise that Recovery Program accomplishments to date are sufficient to provide reasonable and prudent alternatives for all existing depletions. While indicating they may need to identify a few prospective RIPRAP actions to fully cover the impacts of existing depletions, the FWS indicated they have no intent to roll back any existing uses; their issue seemed to be a need to provide strong support within the biological staff at FWS and elsewhere. At our March 3, 1997, meeting, we also spent a considerable amount of time discussing the anticipated schedule for completing CRDSS activities needed to support this consultation. CWCB staff estimate that it will take approximately 8 months with a top priority to update the existing CRDSS database to include 1992 -1995 water years; Therefore, we agreed to use the existing data set (1974 -1991) with an approximated allowance to reflect "current" uses. This will require input from various water user organizations and assessment of cumulative increase during the 1992 -1995 water years. If new depletions during this time frame are significant, we will need to agree upon an adjustment factor which can be incorporated into the CRDSS modeling efforts.