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<br />STATE OF COLORADO <br /> <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Bill Owens, Governor <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES <br /> <br />DIVISION OF WilDLIFE <br /> <br />AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER <br /> <br />Bruce McCloskey, Director <br />6060 Broadway <br />Denver, Colorado 60216 <br />Telephone: (303) 297-1192 <br /> <br />May 12, 2005 <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's Revised Instream Flow Recommendation for Spring Creek <br /> <br />Dear Dan and Todd, <br /> <br />The purpose of this letter is to officially transmit the Colorado Division of Wildlife's Revised Instream Flow <br />Recommendation for Spring Creek in Gunnison County. The reach of stream covered by this flow <br />recommendation is from the Spring Outlet and extending downstream to the Downing Ditch, a distance of <br />approximately 0.8 miles. This reach of stream is located northeast of the Town of Paonia. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />In 2001 and 2004, the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), with the assistance of staff from the Colorado <br />Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and the United States Forest Service (USFS), collected stream cross <br />section information, natural environment data, and other data needed to quantify Instream Flow needs for <br />Spring Creek. Spring Creek is classified as a small stream (between 10 to 19 feet wide) and fishery surveys <br />indicate the stream environment of Muddy Creek supports a self-sustaining brook trout fishery. <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 amounts to preserve the natural environment of Spring Creek to a reasonable degree: <br /> <br />. 2.7 cubic feet per second is recommended year-round for Spring Creek. This flow is required to <br />maintain the three principal hydraulic criteria of average depth, average velocity and percent wetted <br />perimeter. 2.7 cfs is recommended for a year-round flow to protect an average depth of 0.2 foot <br />across the majority of stream riffles. Depth across riffle habitats appears to be the most limiting <br />factor for Spring Creek because of the potential for extremely low water temperatures, anchor ice <br />conditions and limited pool habitat. Maintaining an average depth of 0.2 of a foot throughout the <br />majority of the Spring Creek riffle habitat will preserve the natural environment of Spring Creek to a <br />reasonable degree. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Russeii 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 O'Neal. Robert Shoemaker. Ken Torres <br />Ex Officio Members, Russeii George and Don Ament <br />