CWCB San Miguel PHS Final

• Case Number: 11CW0129
• Stream Name: San Miguel River
• Watershed: San Miguel
• Water Division: 4
• Water District: 60
• County: Montrose
• Instream Flow App - Doc Type: ISF INV - Hearing

BEFORE THE COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD
STATE OF COLORADO
Prehearing Statement of Staff of the Colorado Water Conservation Board
IN THE MATTER OF THE CWCB STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION FOR AN INSTREAM
FLOW APPROPRIATION ON THE SAN MIGUEL RIVER, WATER DIVISION 4
Pursuant to Rule 5n. (2) of the Rules Concerning the Colorado Instream Flow and
Natural Lake Level, 2 CCR 408 -2 ( "ISF Rules "), the Staff of the Colorado Water Conservation
Board ( "CWCB ") hereby submits its prehearing statement in support of the Staff's
recommendations for an instream flow ( "ISF ") appropriation on the subject reach of the San
Miguel River in the amounts set forth in the attached memorandum (attached as Exhibit 1).
A. FACTUAL CLAIMS
1) Based upon field surveys by the Colorado Division of Wildlife ( "CDOW ") and the Bureau of
Land Management (,ELM "), there is a natural environment that can be preserved on the
subject reach of the San Miguel River, in Montrose County. That natural environment
supports several environmental attributes identified by the Southwest Basin Roundtable:
roundtail chub, flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker, Northern leopard frog, river otter, and
significant riparian and wetland communities. The riparian communities include New Mexico
privet, skunkbrush, narrowleaf cottonwood and Fremont cottonwood. The Roundtable
identified this instream flow appropriation as an IPP ( "Identified Project and Process ") to
meet nonconsumptive needs in the basin.
2) The ISF amounts recommended by Staff for the subject reach of the San Miguel River:
a) are based upon standard scientific methodology and accurate R2Cross and PHABSIM
(Physical Habitat Simulation) analyses;
b) reflect the amount of water available for appropriation as an ISF water right; and
c) are required to preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree.
3) The natural environment on the subject reach of the San Miguel River: (a) will be preserved to
a reasonable degree with the proposed ISF water right; and (b) can exist without material
injury to water rights.