Curecanti National Recreation Area: Personal Watercraft Use Enviornmental Assessment

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PURPOSE OF AND NEED FOR ACTION Other locations where personal watercraft operate include Stevens Creek, Cebolla Basin, Soap Creek Arm, Bay of Chickens, and the main marina at Elk Creek. Motorized vessels with horsepower of 25 or less are permitted on Crystal or Morrow Point Reservoirs. No motorized vessels are permitted east of Beaver Creek (refer to map 1). PWC use is limited to approximately 2 hours with a wetsuit because of cold -water temperatures and high afternoon winds. PWC use conflicts with both bank and boat fishermen from Dry Creek to Bay of Chickens. Visitor Safety 4 Information was gathered from a voluntary survey of 185 visitors who requested vessel registration at Curecanti. Forty respondents indicated a lack of perceived problems with PWC use; 90 respondents recommended limits on the time and locations of PWC use; and 7 would open flat -wake speed areas to - PWC use (NPS 2000d). The number of boating accidents at Curecanti ranged from two to seven per year for 1998 through 2002. None of these incidents involved personal watercraft and they primarily resulted in property damage rather than personal injury. Most property damage resulted from grounding or wind - related swamping. Since 1996, one young child required hospitalization as a result of a PWC accident (NPS 2002c). OBJECTIVES IN TAKING ACTION Objectives define what must be achieved for an action to be considered a success. Alternatives selected for detailed analysis must meet all objectives and must also resolve purpose of and need for action. Using the park's authorizing memorandum of agreement, mandates and direction in the General Management Plan (NPS 1997) and the Strategic Plan (NPS 2001 c), issues, and servicewide objectives, park staff identified the following management objectives relative to PWC use: WATER QUALITY • Manage PWC emissions that enter the water in accordance with NPS anti - degradation policies and goals. • Protect plankton and other aquatic organisms from PWC emissions so that the viability of dependent species is conserved. • Manage PWC emissions so that Curecanti National Recreation Area continues to meet state of Colorado drinking water standards. • Manage PWC emissions so that the quality of water flowing into the river does not adversely affect the Colorado River cutthroat trout and other fish. • Manage PWC emissions so that water does not adversely affect fish recruitment and survival. 14