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<br />STATE OF COLORADO <br /> <br />Bill OWens, Governor <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES <br /> <br />DIVISION OF WilDLIFE <br /> <br />AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER <br /> <br /> <br />Bruce McCloskey, Director <br />6060 Broadway <br />Denver, Colorado 80216 <br />Telephone: (303) 297-1192 <br /> <br />December 20, 2004 <br /> <br />Mr. Dan Merriman and Mr. Todd Doherty <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />Stream and Lake Protection Section <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 723 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> <br />Re: Colorado Division of Wildlife Instream Flow Recommendations for the San Miguel River. <br /> <br />Dear Dan and Todd, <br /> <br />The purpose of this letter is to officially transmit the Colorado Division of Wildlife's (CDOW) InstreamFlow <br />Recommendations for the San Miguel River in San Miguel County. The reach of stream ,covered by this <br />flow recommendation is from the confluence with Bear Creek to the confluence with the South Fork of the <br />San Miguel River, a distance of approximately 6 miles, <br /> <br />In 1 984, Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) appropriated a 6,5 cfs year-round water right for the <br />segment of the San Miguel River from the confluence of Bridal Veil and Ingram Creeks to the confluence <br />with the South Fork, In 1996, the Upper San Miguel River Basin Stakeholders requested the CWCB and <br />the CDOW to revisit the upper San Miguel River Basin and evaluate the flow needs of all stream segments <br />located in the basin (see attached letter), The CDOW has, over several years, collected the additional <br />stream cross section information required to quantify the instream flow needs for an instream flow <br />enlargement of the San Miguel River. The existence of a natural environment was established by the <br />CWCB in Case Number 4-84CW427, The upper San Miguel River is classified as a medium stream <br />(between 20 to 35 feet wide), Aquatic sampling shows that a self sustaining brook and rainbow trout fishery <br />exists in the upper San Miguel River Basin, In addition to the trout fishery, the upper basin also supports a <br />population of mottled sculpins, <br /> <br />The stream cross section data was analyzed using the R2CROSS program, The R2CROSS output was <br />evaluated using the methods described in Nehring (1979) and Espegren (1996). The CDOW has reViewed <br />the data collected to date and based on that review recommends that the CWCB appropriated the following <br />flow amount to preserve the natural environment of the San Miguel River to a reasonable degree: <br /> <br />. 10,5 cubic feet per second is recommended for the period of May 15 through October 31, This <br />flow is required to maintain to a reasonable degree, the three principal hydraulic criteria of <br />average depth, average velocity and percent wetted perimeter. Implementing this <br />recommendation would require a 4 cfs enlargement from May 15 through October 31, <br /> <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Russell George. Executive Director <br />WILDLIFE COMMISSION, Philip James, Chair. Jeffrey Crawford. Vice-Chair. Brad Phelps, Secretary <br />Members, Bernard Black. Tom Burke. Rick Enstrom. Claire 0' Neal. Robert Shoemaker. Ken Torres <br />Ex Officio Members, Russell George and Don Ament . <br />