Letter from Colorado River District

Home Browse Search

4 Page 2 of 6 CRWCD Protest of Proposed Little Snake Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement September 13, 2010 manage the subject river segments as "suitable" in the absence of formal "designation." Management of the river segments as suitable could adversely impact the exercise of water rights unless appropriate protective measures are included in the management directives that address the exercise of water rights. The Colorado General Assembly and Colorado water users have spent a great deal of time and money building flexibility into Colorado's water law system. As most of the Colorado's river systems are already over-appropriated (meaning there are more demands than supplies), we cannot afford to lose flexibility and future development potential of conditional water rights located within Yampa River Segments 1-3. Therefore, we recommend that the BLM reconsider the Little Snake Filed Office's ("LSFO") suitability determination and work with interested stakeholders to develop a management plan that protects the Wild and Scenic values while recognizing and protecting the ability of water users to develop water rights. The River District supports those comments submitted by Moffat County, Juniper Water Conservancy District, Tri- State Generation and Transmission Association, and Colowyo Coal Company L.P. identifying the LSFO's failure to adequately identify and address existing water rights on the Yampa River, as well as existing protective programs and practices already in place that together make the segments unsuitable. II. STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES AND PARTS OF THE PRMP/FEIS BEING PROTESTED (43 C.F.R. §1610.5-2(a)(2)(ii),(iii) The River District protests the proposed Suitability Determination for Segments 1-3 of the Yampa River set forth in the August 2010 Little Snake PRMP/FEIS, Appendix D. III. A COPY OF ALL DOCUMENTS ADDRESSING THE ISSUE SUBMITTED DURING THE PLANNING PROCESS BY THE PROTESTING PARTY(43 C.F.R. §1610.5-2(a)(2)(iv)) A copy of the River District's May 16, 2007 comments to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Resource Management Plan for the Little Snake Filed Office is enclosed. The River District reiterates its 2007 comments for this protest. IV. STATEMENT EXPLAINING WHY THE STATE DIRECTOR'S DECISION IS WRONG ((43 C.F.R. §1610.5-2(a)(2)(v)) A. PROPOSED SEGMENTS DO NOT MEET BLM's OWN SUITABILITY CRITERIA. The River District does not believe that the proposed segments are suitable for designation because they fail to meet at least five of the criteria in the BLM's Wild and Scenic Rivers Policy and Program Manual ("BLM Manual"). The BLM does not have jurisdictional control over all the lands, which will make it difficult to manage as Wild and Scenic. BLM Manual 8351.33 (A)(2). The reasonably foreseeable potential use of the land and related waters includes two significant reservoirs (Juniper and Cross Mountain). BLM Manual 8351.33 (A)(3).