BOARD00754

• Board Meeting Date: 1/25/2005
• Description: ISF Section - Instream Flow Appropriations - San Miguel River
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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
5i.

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 in stream 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 in stream flow recommendations from other state and federal
agencies, The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) and the San Miguel County
Commissioners (SMCC) recommended this segment of the San Miguel River for an in stream
flow enlargement. The CWCB currently holds an instream flow water right for 6,5 cfs year-
round (Case No, 4-84CW427),

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" c.R.S, 33-1-101 (1), The CDOW Strategic Plan states "Healthy aquatic
environments are essential to maintain healthy and viable fisheries, and critical for self-
sustaining populations, The Division desires to protect and enhance the quality and quantity of
aquatic habitats,"

The San Miguel River is approximately 81 miles long, It begins at the confluence of Bridal Veil
and Ingram Creeks at an elevation of approximately 9170 feet and terminates at the confluence
with the Dolores River at an elevation of approximately 4840 feet. Of the 6.4-mile segment
addressed by this report, approximately 23% of the segment, L5-miles, is located on public
lands, while the remainder of the segment, 4,9 miles, is located on private lands, The San
Miguel River is located within San Miguel and Montrose Counties, The total drainage area of
this segment of the San Miguel River is approximately 49,8 square miles, The San Miguel River
generally flows in a northwesterly direction,

The subject of this report is a segment of the San Miguel River beginning at the confluence with
Bear Creek and extending downstream to the confluence with the South Fork of the San Miguel
River. The proposed segment is located near the Town of Telluride, 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 4 cfs, summer flow enlargement, 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-