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<br />Uflited States Deparbnent of Agriullture <br /> <br />~ NRCS <br /> <br />Natural Resources Conservation Service <br />Snow Survey OffICe <br />65S Parfel Street, Room E200c <br />Lakewood, Colorado 80215 <br /> <br />72Q..544-2852 Office <br />72Q..544.29E)3.. Fall <br />www,oo.nrcs.usda.gov <br />mike_gillespie@oo.usda_QOv <br /> <br />May 19,2005 <br /> <br />Joe Busto <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />1313 Shcnnan Strcet <br />Denver. CO 80203 <br /> <br />Dear Joe; <br /> <br />First off. let me express my apologies for the delay in getting this to you. I've bcen holding ofT <br />in order to include the site photos that arc attached. I just wanted to take this opportunity to <br />thank you for your help, through thc Colorado Water Conservation Board's Severance Tax Trust <br />Funds. in the installation ofthrce new SNOTEL sites during the summer of 2004. Without this <br />help, it's unlikely that these new sites would be in existence today or at any time in the near <br />future. <br /> <br />A summary of our accomplishments, which you and the Water Conservation Board were an <br />integral part, includes: <br /> <br />I. Installation of the Bear River SNOTEL site. This site is located in the Yampa River <br />basin, near the existing Bear River snow course. This snow course has been manually <br />measured each winter month since 1956. This site is located bctween the Yamcolo and <br />Stagecoach Reservoirs along the upper reach of the Yampa River. The Bear River snow <br />course is used in forecasting spring and summer nllloff at several points along the Yampa <br />River, including the inllo\v into Stagecoach Reservoir. Since this is an important snow <br />course for forecasting, installing an automated SNOTEL site at this location was a high <br />priority for our office. With the initial S5000 provided by Severance Tax funds, \\o'C were <br />able to obtain the additional 58.500 to complete the equipment costs from the Upper <br />Yampa Watcr Conservancy District. This site \vill provide real-time access to snowpack <br />and climatic data which will not only help NRCS in streamllow forecasting. but also <br />water managers in the Yampa basin as well. <br /> <br />2. Installation of the Cochetopa Pass SNOTEL site. This site is located along the basin <br />divide between Cochetopa Crcek. a tributary to the Gunnison River, and Saguache Creek, <br />a tributary to the Rio Grande Rivcr. This new site was located adjacent to the existing <br />Cochctopa Pass snm\' course, which has been manually measured cach \vinter month <br />since 1949, One of the valuable aspects of this site is that it fills a void in a large <br />geographical area where \ve have very limited snowpack data. This location provides a <br />signiticant nmotT contribution to both these major rivers. The NRCS has used the data <br />collected at this site in providing srreamllow forecasts within both basins. We \vere able <br />to utilize the 55,000 Severance Tax funds to leverage the additional 58.500 from the <br /> <br />Th~ Natural R~r<~ Con...rvat,on ~IVI<~ p'o~ide1O I~ad~'ship in a partnersh,p ~ffort to h~lp JK'Opl~ <br />con_. malnta,n, a"d 'mr><o~. our natu.,,1 roMOu"IM and .n~..on~nt. <br /> <br />An [QUIll Opportun,ty Prov,d.. and Employ~r <br />