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Summary The information contained in this report and the associated natural lake level file folder forms the basis for staff's natural lake level recommendation to be considered by the Board. It is staff's opinion that the information contained in this report is sufficient to support the findings required in Rule 5.40. Colorado's Instream Flow and Natural Lake Level Program was created in 1973 when the Colorado State Legislature recognized "the need to correlate the activities of mankind with some reasonable preservation of the natural environment" (see 37 -92 -102 (3) C.R.S.). The statute vests the CWCB with the exclusive authority to appropriate and acquire instream flow and natural lake level water rights. In order to encourage other entities to participate in Colorado's Instream Flow Program, the statute directs the CWCB to request instream flow recommendations from other local, state and federal agencies. The City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (COBOS) recommended this natural lake to the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Natural Lake Level Program. Jewell Mountain Lake is being considered for inclusion into the Natural Lake Level Program because it has a natural environment that can be preserved to a reasonable degree with a natural lake level water right. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) and COBOS is very interested in protecting lake levels because Jewell Mountain Lake is one of the few lower elevation lakes on the eastern side of the Front Range that supports a natural environment. In Colorado, there are nearly 2000 natural lakes; over 90% of these natural lakes are above 8200 feet, only two natural lakes are known to occur at elevations less than 7000 feet. Jewel Mountain Lake and most of its drainage area is located on City of Boulder Open Space property. The remainder of the Lake's drainage area is located on Jefferson County Open Space property (see below). Jewel Mountain Lake has a water surface area that varies between 6 and 8 acres. Evaporation and seepage losses from the lake are estimated to average about 20 acre -feet per year. The lake's depth varies between 6 and 11 feet. The Lake has a tributary surface drainage area of about 112 acres. Based upon USGS National Atlas data, the natural runoff into Jewel Lake averages about 28 acre -feet per year with most of the runoff occurring in the spring due to local snowmelt and rainfall. This volume of runoff is sufficient to replace evaporation and seepage losses and fill the lake each spring. Based upon field evidence, the lake exhibits a natural water level fluctuation of up to 5 feet per year due to evaporation and seepage losses during the summer, fall and winter. The Lake is located 9.2 miles south of downtown Boulder at an elevation of approximately 6263 feet. The lake is located in Jefferson County. zQ2 r ' U O 4