Laserfiche WebLink
SAN MIGUEL COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ELAINE FISCHER ART GOODTIMES JOAN MAY <br />January 21, 2011 <br />Jennifer Gimbel, Director <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 721 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Re: North Fork Tabeguache Creek (headwaters to confluence Tabeguache Creek) <br />Tabeguache Creek (confluence of North Fork Tabeguache Creek to confluence Forty - <br />Seven Creek) Instream Flow Appropriations <br />Dear Ms. Gimbel and Board Members: <br />The San Miguel County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) appreciates the efforts of the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to create instream flow appropriations on <br />Tabeguache Creek and its North Fork. The BOCC supports an instream flow appropriation on <br />Tabeguache Creek and its North Fork. <br />Tabeguache Creek in its entirety is a perennially flowing tributary of the lower San Miguel <br />River. The proposed Creek segments are 100% owned by the US Forest Service, and there is no <br />private land ownership within one -half mile wide corridor of Creek. It is a primitive area and at <br />its terminus borders the Tabeguache Creek Potential Conservation Area. These segments <br />provide tributary flows to a reach of the San Miguel River that supports exemplary populations <br />of the three BLM and Colorado sensitive warm water native fish species. In addition, this <br />portion of the San Miguel was historically occupied by the Colorado Pikeminnow, a federally <br />endangered species. We believe it is in the best interest of Colorado to protect tributary flows to <br />these important fisheries to reduce the potential for a federally mandated water management plan <br />being imposed on our regional waterways. <br />Thank you for considering our comments and for your efforts to protect the environmental values <br />of these segments of the North Fork Tabeguache Creek and Tabeguache Creek. <br />Very truly yours, <br />SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, COLORADO <br />BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />Joan May, Chair <br />P.O. BOY 1170 • Telluride, Colorado 81435 • (970) 728 -3844 • FAX (970) 728 -3718 <br />www. s an miguelc ounty. org <br />