BOARD01112

• Board Meeting Date: 1/24/2006
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Government, Environmentalists OK Deal on Status of Gunnison Grouse: On Nov. 27, the
government and environmental groups announced a deal that would settle a lawsuit in exchange for a
federal decision on whether the Gunnison sage grouse should be listed as an endangered or threatened
species, The agreement, which still needs a judge's approval, would require the U.s, Fish and Wildlife
Service to decide by March 31 whether the bird should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Delta County Water Project Looks Plausible: A water conservation project that's been talked about for
decades may finally get off the ground, thanks to modem technology and some old-fashioned
cooperation. The proposed project of the Grand Mesa Water Task Force would include building two
reservoirs with a hydroelectric plant between them and resurrecting an old pumping station on the
Gunnison River.

Delta County Commissioner Wayne Wolfsaid a recent draft of an engineering report commissioned by
the task force shows the proposed projects can work and that enough water is available, but funding will
have to be found. Under the current proposal, one reservoir would be built at Surface Creek at the U,S,
Forest Service boundary, Wolf said, with another at Cactus Park, east of Cedaredge, Re-activating the
pump on the Gunnison would serve the area served by the Fruit Growers Reservoir, he said. The
awareness of the need for more water in the West began in 1933 with a study by the Bureau of
Reclamation and the Department of the Interior, said task force coordinator Gerald Figueroa, and a
subsequent federal study was shelved in 1982.

That led to the forming of the Grand Mesa Water Task Force about a year ago, comprised of six
government entities and affected water districts. The task force has a mission to improve use of water in
the (Grand) valley, to increase storage, to import water to the valley from other sources and to try to come
up with revenues from hydropower. .

The two reservoirs would have a capacity of between 25,000 and 35,000 acre-feet of water initially,
Figueroa said, and the 22 feet of fall between the two reservoirs would be conducive to producing
electricity, which would help financially, The draft engineering report, prepared by Smith Williams
Engineering of Denver, shows no "fatal flaw."

Platte RIver Basin

South Platte Flow and Reservoir Conditions Link: The following is a link to a section of the Colorado
State Engineer's Website that is maintained by Claudia Engelmann, Assistant Division Engineer for
Water Division I, that shows flow and reservoir conditions in the South Platte Basin that you may find
useful. http://www.water.state.co.us/nubs/S Platte. asp

3-State Cooperative Agreement: Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, and the Federal government have
finalized the three-State program agreement for review by the FWS in order to issue a Biological Opinion
("BO"), a Final Environmental Impact Statement ("FEIS"), and a Record of Decision ("ROD"). The
FWS expects to issue the BO and FEIS in March 2006, with a final ROD in April 2006, The current
Cooperative agreement is expired on December 31, 2005, but the three states and the federal government
extended the current cooperative agreement until October I, 2006, Governor Owens' letter extending the
agreement is attached. The Board will be asked to make its recommendation regarding use of the Species
Conservation Trust Fund at the Board meeting, One of the recommendations is to use up to $5 million
for the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program ("PRRIP") for the first year of the program, The
Wildlife Commission made a similar recommendation at the Wildlife Commission meeting on January
12,2006. In addition, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska will be seeking Congressional authorization .
and appropriation for the PRRIP this year,

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