Yampa River Recreational Uses & Recommended Flows

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UU WILULIFt HR131IR1 Fax:3U3- 191 -1456 Jun 3 2005 13:14 P.UZ 46 STATE OF COLORADO BIII Owens, Governor DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION OF WILDLIFE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Bruce McCloskey, Director 6060 Broadway Denver, Colorado 80216 Telephone: (303) 287 -1182 June 2, 2005 1 &, Ted Kowalski Colorado Water Conservation Board Stream and Lake Protection Section 1313 Sherman Street, Room 723 Denver, Colorado 80203 For Wildlife- For People Re, Colorado Division of Wildlife's Review of City of Steamboat Springs — Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services: Yampa River Recreational Uses & Recommended Flows (Table 2). Dear Mr. Kowalski, The purpose of this letter is to transmit the Colorado Division of Wildlife's (CDOW) opinion on the City of Steamboat Springs Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services' (POSR) Yampa River flow recommendations for Recreational Uses. The Colorado Water Conservation Board and the State and Division Engineers have requested the CDOW to provide an opinion concerning the statements made by Michael Neumann in his Rebuttal Report, dated May 19, 2004, wherein he stated that Table 2, which sets forth the minimum, optimum and recommend flows for "Yampa River recreational uses," does not, in fact, represent the minimum, optimum and recommend flows for "Yampa River recreational uses," but rather represents the "absolute minimum at which an activity could be considered to occur without damage to the biologic resources." (see attached). This statement has no scientific support and is, in fact, contradicted by CDOW data. The Yampa River is located in northwest Colorado and flows through the City of Steamboat Springs. The CDOW has conducted numerous studies and collected a considerable amount of biological and Instream flow stream cross section data on the Yampa River. This reach of the Yampa River is classified as a large river (over 100 feet wide) and fishery surveys indicate the stream environment of the Yampa River supports a self - sustaining brown, rainbow, brook and cutthroat trout fishery. in addition, the Yampa River supports populations of mountain whitefish, mottled sculpin, speckled dace, white sucker, longnose sucker and creek chub. This reach of the Yampa River has more restrictive regulations for fishing than the statewide standard bag and possession limit regulations. Special regulations are designed to provide the best fishing and maintain the long -term welfare of the fish. DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Russell George, Executive Director WILDLIFE COMMISSION, Jeffrey Cnmlbrd, Chair. Tom Burke, Moe Chair a Ken Tortes, Secretary Members, Robert Bray • Rick Enstrom • Philip James • Claire O'Neal . Richard Ray. Robert Shoemaker Ex Officio Members, Russell George and Don Ament