Smith Fork Gunnison Hearing ‎(2)‎

• Case Number: 06CW0228
• Stream Name: Smith Fork Gunnison River
• Watershed: Gunnison
• Water Division: 4
• Water District: 40
• County: Delta
• County: Gunnison
• Instream Flow App - Doc Type: Supplemental Data

Summary
The information contained in this report and the associated instream flow file folder forms the
basis for the 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 Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) recommended this segment of the Smith
Fork of the Gunnison River to the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. The
Smith Fork of the Gunnison River is being considered for inclusion into the Instream Flow
Program because it has a natural environment that can be preserved to a reasonable degree with
an instream flow water right.
The CDOW is forwarding this stream flow recommendation to the CWCB to meet the State of
Colorado's policy "... that the wildlife and their environment are to be protected, preserved,
enhanced, and managed for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of the people of this state and its
visitors ... and that, to carry out such program and policy, there shall be a continuous operation
of planning, acquisition, and development of wildlife habitats and facilities for wildlife-related
opportunities"(see 33-1-101 (1) C.R.S.). The CDOW Strategic Plan also states "Healthy aquatic
environments are essential to maintain healthy and viable fisheries, and critical for self-
sustaining populations. The CDOW desires to protect and enhance the quality and quantity of
aquatic habitats."
The Smith Fork of the Gunnison River is approximately 23.1 miles long. It begins at the
confluence of the North and South Forks of the Smith Fork at an elevation of approximately
7360 feet and terminates at the confluence with the Gunnison River at an elevation of
approximately 5200 feet. Of the 3.9-mile segment addressed by this report, approximately 58%
of the segment, or 2.3 miles, is located on public lands, while the remainder of the segment, 1.6
miles, is located on private lands. Smith Fork of the Gunnison River is located within Gunnison
and Delta Counties. The total drainage area of the river is approximately 182 square miles. The
Smith Fork of the Gunnison River generally flows in a westerly direction.
The subject of this report is a segment of the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River beginning at the
confluence of the North and South Forks of the Smith Fork and extending downstream to
confluence of Little Coal Creek. The proposed segment is located northeast of the Town of
Crawford. The staff has received one recommendation for this segment from the CDOW. The
recommendation for this segment is discussed below.
Instream Flow Recommendation(s)
The CDOW has recommended 12.9 cfs, summer and 7.7 cfs, winter, based on their data
collection efforts (see Table 1 and Appendix A). The modeling results from this survey effort
are within the confidence interval produced by the R2CROSS model.
-2 -