Letter April 11 2008 Concerning Comments of the SOuthwester Water Conservation District in response to Notice of Availability of Draft San Juan Public Lands Land Management Plan and Draft Envrionmental Impact Statement

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April 11, 2008 Page 21 1. The establishment of the Piedra Special Area was a major effort by numerous state, federal and local parties to protect a potential downstream "Wilderness Area ", without reserved water rights protections. The Draft Plan fails to discuss fully why such current protection is inadequate. 2. CWCB instream flows must receive thorough consideration in determining ORV protection alternatives. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a letter dated July 19, 2005 to Senator Wayne Allard, recognized that the Department: will manage water resources on National Forest System lands through cooperation with states, other federal agencies, Tribal governments, holders of valid water rights and the interested public, rather than through unilateral regulatory action by the Forest Service. A vital cooperative element is a CWCB instream flow ( "ISF ") water right. The Draft Plan includes only minimal discussion of why a CWCB ISF is insufficient to protect ORVs. Such an alternative must be thoroughly evaluated. The Draft Plan states that if a stream is designated as a WSR by Congress, "a federal water right would be created" with "quantification left to the federal agency that manages the river." The Final Plan needs to provide that reserved water rights will not be pursued in such a Congressional designation for any stream below a reservoir such as McPhee Reservoir. 3. "Potential" Special Area Designations. For stream segments, including but not limited to the following, the Draft Plan lists protections such as the inclusion of land in a potential RNA (Draft Plan at p. D -14, Dolores River Above McPhee); National Heritage Program Potential Conservation Area (Cement Creek, Draft Plan at p. D -49, Cinnamon Creek, Draft Plan at p. D -53, Mineral Creek, Draft Plan at p. 60, West Fork Animas River in California Gulch, Draft Plan at p. D -69), and a Area of Critical Environmental Concern ( "ACEC "), Draft Plan at p. D -31, Summit Canyon. If Special Area designation can adequately protect the values of stream segments, suitability designations must be avoided as not the best means of ORV protection. D. Draft Plan fails to allow a simple reopener to recognize the work of two significant collaborative efforts as alternatives to WSR suitability designation. 1. Congressional Designation of Streams as WSR without Strong Local Support Unrealistic. In determining suitability, the SJPL must place great weight on the likelihood of a stream reach actually being designated by Congress under the WSR Act. If the possibility of a reach being designated is remote because of local opposition, conflicts, or alternative means of protection, the reach should not be found to meet suitability criteria. Reaches for which Congressional WSR designation is unrealistic should receive alternative methods of value protection.