07/6/A-007 Supplemental Data - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • Summary The information contained in this report and the associated appendix forms the basis for staff's instream flow 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.i. Colorado's Instream Flow 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 state and federal agencies. The Bureau of Land Management recommended this segment of South Fork Big Creek to the CWCB for a water right under the Instream Flow Program. South Fork Big Creek is being considered for an instream flow because it has a natural environment that can be preserved to a reasonable degree with an instream flow water right. The BLM is very interested in protecting stream flows because South Fork Big Creek is a highly productive fishery with good public access, and because the creek supports a diverse and productive riparian community. An instream flow appropriation will help BLM to maintain the health of South Fork Big Creek's diverse fishery and riparian environment. Located within Jackson County, South Fork Big Creek is approximately 15 miles long and generally flows in a northeasterly direction. It begins in cirques on the east flanks of Davis Peak and Mount Zirkel in the Park Range. The headwaters is located within the Mount Zirkel Wilderness and the Routt National Forest at an elevation of approximately 10,945 feet. Three lakes with natural lake level water rights are found in the creek headwaters: Upper Big Creek Lake (case no. 79CW011), Eileen Lake (case no. W- 1073 -76), and Seven Lake #1 (case no. W- 1082-76.) South Fork Big Creek leaves Colorado at an elevation of approximately 8327 feet and terminates in its confluence with Big Creek in Wyoming. Of the approximately 1.9 mile segment addressed in this report, approximately 95% percent is on federal (BLM) lands with the remaining 5% on private. At the lower terminus, the creek's drainage area is approximately 35.6 square miles. The subject of this report is the segment of South Fork Big Creek beginning at its confluence with Wheeler Creek and extending downstream to the Colorado — Wyoming border. The lower terminus is roughly two and three quarters miles upstream of the Big Creek - South Fork Big Creek confluence (see Map, Figures 2 and 3) at an elevation of 8,245 feet. The proposed segment is approximately 15 miles northwest of the Cowdrey and thirty eight miles north - northeast of Steamboat Springs. The upper terminus is approximately 0.9 miles east - southeast of Pearl, Colorado. The staff has received one recommendation for this segment from the BLM. That recommendation is discussed below. Instream Flow Recommendation(s) BLM recommended 10.2 cfs (summer), 8.2 cfs (winter), based on data collection efforts on July 28, 2005. The modeling results from these survey efforts are within the confidence interval produced by the R2Cross model.