BOARD00788

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

STATE OF COLORADO

Bill Owens, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

DIVISION OF WilDLIFE

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Bruce McCloskey, Director
6060 Broadway
Denver, Colorado 80216
Telephone: [phone]

December 15, 2004

Mr. Dan Merriman and Mr. Todd Doherty
Colorado Water Conservation Board
Stream and Lake Protection Section
1313 Sherman Street, Room 723
Denver, Colorado 80203

Re: Colorado Division of Wildlife Instream Flow Recommendations for Coal Creek.

Dear Dan and Todd,

The purpose of this letter is to officially transmit the Colorado Division of Wildlife's Instream Flow
Recommendations for Coal Creek in Gunnison County. The reach of stream covered by this flow
recommendation is from the confluence of Gunnison Creek to the confluence with Anthracite Creek, a
distance of approximately 5 miles.

In the fall of 1998, the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW). with the assistance of staff from the Colorado
Water Conservation Board (CWCB), collected stream cross section information, natural environment data,
and other data needed to quantify Instream Flow needs for the Coal Creek. Coal Creek is classified as a
river (between 60 to 99 feet wide) and fishery surveys indicate the stream environment of Coal Creek
supports a self-sustaining brown and rainbow trout fishery. Coal Creek also supports populations of Mottled
sculpins. Speckled dace and Bluehead suckers.

The stream cross section data was analyzed using the R2CROSS program. The R2CROSS output was
evaluated using the methods described in Nehring (1979) and Espegren (1996). The CDOW has reviewed
the data collected to date and based on that review recommends that the CWCB appropriated the following
flow amounts to preserve the natural environment of the Coal Creek to a reasonable degree:

. 39 cubic feet per second is recommended for April 1 through July 14. This flow is required to
maintain the three principal hydraulic criteria of average depth. average velocity and percent
wetted perimeter;

. 21 cubic feet per second is recommended for July 15 through March 31. This flow is required to
maintain two of the three principal hydraulic criteria of average depth, average velocity and
percent wetted perimeter.

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Russell George, Executive Director
WILDLIFE COMMISSION, Philip James, Chair. Jeffrey Crawford, Vice-Chair. Brad Phelps, Secretary
Members, Bernard Black. Tom Burke. Rick Enstrom. Claire 0' Neal. Robert Shoemaker. Ken Torres
Ex Officio Members, Russell George and Dori Ament