Scope of Work for CWCB Funds

• Description: documents related to River Pretoection Workgroup ‎(RPW)‎ Steering Committee
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 3/20/2007
• Author: RPW
• Title: Scope of Work for CWCB Funds
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Meeting

River Protection Workgroup's Scope of Work for CWCB funds-March 20,2007
Background: The San Juan Public Lands Center("SJPLC") organized a Governmental Water
Roundtable ("Roundtable")to seek to reach a common understanding among interested
governmental entities concerning water related issues for the revised U.S. Forest Service/Bureau
of Land Management Management Plan("Plan"). The Roundtable included representatives from
area counties and cities; the Southwestern Water Conservation District; Colorado government
agencies, including the Divisions of Wildlife and Water Resources and the Colorado Water
Conservation Board; and the two Colorado Ute Indian Tribes. Active participants in the public
monthly meetings of the Roundtable included representatives of local environmental groups and
from the offices of Colorado's area Congressmen and Senators and state legislators. Among the
issues reviewed extensively by the Roundtable was the SJPLC process for carrying out its
mandate to review all streams within its jurisdiction for eligibility for Wild and Scenic River
("WSR") designation. The SJPLC chose to proceed with a WSR suitability analysis in the EIS
for the Plan.
Because of the difficulties of obtaining Congressional enactment of WSR legislation, a number
of Roundtable participants, including Anne Brown, Steve Fearn,Dan Merriman, Don Schwindt,
Janice C. Sheftel, John B. (Barry) Spear, Mark Stiles, John Taylor, Chuck Wanner,Jeff Widen
and Bruce Whitehead(the"Steering Committee") agreed to meet outside the Roundtable process
to seek ways to protect the exceptional values of selected streams.
Goal: For the following streams -the San Juan River, East and West Forks;portions of the
Upper Animas,Piedra and Pine Rivers; Hermosa Creek; and,Upper Vallecito Creek-the River
Protection Workgroup will seek to develop long term, reliable federal, state or other measures to
protect Workgroup identified values of these streams,which may be in addition to outstandingly
remarkable values under the WSR Act, while allowing needed water development to continue.
River Protection Workgroup Composition: The Steering Committee and other stakeholders,
including those identified by the Steering Committee,will meet to develop, for the selected
streams, a joint understanding of river values,water needs, value protection mechanisms already
in place and possible future value protection mechanisms. Because Workgroup meetings will be
noticed and open to the public, additional stakeholders may become participants in the
Workgroup Process simply through their continuing participation in the Workgroup Meetings.
Role of Steering Committee: The Steering Committee will guide the Workgroup activities
through a consensus process. The Workgroup activities and their implementation as listed
below,represent the Committee's best initial identification of measures to seek to achieve the
Workgroup's goals. The Committee may modify this program as the Workgroup's activities
unfold.
Workgroup Activities and Products/Deliverables:
1. The Steering Committee shall
A. Agree upon a Workgroup facilitator, funding, a Workgroup process and timelines
1. Enter facilitator contract in the initial amount of$14,000