BOARD01180

• Board Meeting Date: 11/20/2000
• Description: ISF Section - Regional Flow Discussion of Next Steps
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.u5

Q

Bill Owens
Governor

MEMORANDUM

Greg E. WaIcher
Executive
Director

To:

Dan McAuliffe
Acting Director

Colorado Water Conservation Board members

From:

Dan McAuliffe, Dan Merriman, and Ted Kowalski

Re:

Agenda !tern No.6, November 21-22, 2000 Board meeting
Reereational Flow Diseussion of Next Steps

General Backl!round

At the July 24-25, 2000 Board meeting, the CWCB ("lhe Board") requested the CWCB Staff ("Staff') to
work with Eric Wilkinson, the sole member of the subeommittee on Reereational Instrearn Flow water rights
("RISFs"), to assess all of the issues regarding RISFs and to provide the Board with some options on how to
address RISFs in the future. In this memorandum, RISFs shall mean both in-ehannel diverted flows thai are
eapable of being appropriated eurrently under the law ("In-Channel Diversions" or "I CDs") and those flows
that are used for reereational purposes, but that are not "diverted," either physieally from the stream or as
ICDs, and that are not eurrently available of being appropriated under the law ("undiverted RISFs" or
"URISFs").

On Oetober 30, the CWCB held a workshop/subeommittee meeting on the issue ofRISFs. Over 60 people
attended the workshop, including representatives of munieipalities, state and federal ageneies, eonservation
groups, environmental assoeiations, and boating organizalions. All but three Board members attended the
workshop. There was considerable testimony, diseussion and debate about RISFs and ICDs, with written
eomments also being submitted. Copies of the written eomments are attaehed. There was signifieant publie
diseussion about the use ofICDs for recreational purposes, as well as the use of URISFs for biologieal
enhaneement of fish habitat. The Board members that were present requested the Staff to develop a
memorandum summarizing the workshop deliberations and deseribing the alternatives diseussed at the
workshop. This memorandum attempts to satisfY that request.

Summarv of the Maior Issues Raised at the Workshop

The following list highlights the major points that were raised, without re-ereating the entire diseussion and
dialogue that oeeurred at the Workshop.. By restating the following tenels, the Staff does not intend to

Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Financing. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning