BOARD00788

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

Summary
The information contained in this report and the associated instream flow file folder forms the
basis for staff's 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 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) recommended this segment of Coal Creek
to the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. Coal Creek 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."

Coal Creek is approximately 16.3 miles long. It begins at the base of Mount Guero at an
elevation of approximately 10,500 feet and terminates at the confluence with Anthracite Creek at
an elevation of approximately 6420 feet. Of the 4.8-mile segment addressed by this report,
approximately 96% of the segment, or 4.6 miles, is located on public lands, while the remainder
of the segment, 0.2 miles, is located on private lands. Coal Creek is located within Gunnison
County. The total drainage area of the river is approximately 101 square miles. Coal Creek
generally flows in a northerly direction.

The subject of this report is a segment of Coal Creek beginning at Little Gunnison Creek and
extending downstream to Anthracite Creek. The proposed segment is located west of the Town
of Paonia. 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 39 cfs, summer, and 21 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.

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