BOARD01363 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

'" Memorandum of Agreement, dated August 6, 2003, granting the District the right to interfere with certain interests owned by the CDOW in order to construct lhe enlargement of Elkhead Reservoir, This and other agreements that the District is party to, will provide the District with title to the estimated additional storage space of 13,000 acre-feet, . created by the enlargement of Elkhead Reservoir. The District, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and USF & WS will be responsible for perfecting the conditional water right Once the water right is decreed absolute, the District is willing to convey to the CWCB the necessary water, water rights and/or interests in water, as described in the CWCB Elkhead Acquisition Agreement, to provide for the 5,000 acre-feet of "permanent water" and the 2,000 acre-feet of "temporary water", necessary to augment the natural hydro graph and help maintain the endangered fish critical habitat Existinl! Instream Flow Water Ril!hts The CWCB does not hold an instream flow water right on this reach of stream, however, the CWCB has subleased water from Colorado State Parks for releases from Steamboat Lake, since 1993, This water was used for endangered fish purposes in this reach ofthe Yampa River. The lease agreement provides water through the year of 2008 and will likely not be renewed upon completion of the proposed Elkhead Enlargement Evaluation of the Proposed Acquisition and CDOW Recommendation The proposed Elkhead Acquisition involves acquiring interest of up to 7,000 acre-feet of the additional storage water created by the enlargement ofElkhead Reservoir. The additional water will be used for piscatorial and recreational uses within Elkhead Reservoir prior to release downstream for instream flow purposes, Once the additional water is released for instream flow purposes, it will be used to augment the natural hydro graph and help maintain endangered fish critical habitat identified by the Recovery Program, This direct benefit to the endangered fish shall be considered by the USF& WS as "sufficient progress" and the USF& WS will continue to use the Recovery Program as a reasonable and prudent alternative to avoid potential jeopardy opinions regarding existing and new water developments within the State of Colorado, . Based on the significant benefits identified above, the CDOW recommends the CWCB proceed with the Elkhead Enlargement Acquisition, If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me at (303)-291-7267. Sincerely, [transmitted electronically] Mark Uppendahl Colorado Division of Wildlife Instream Flow Program Coordinator cc: Jay Skinner, CDOW Water Resources Unit Manager Sherman Rebein, CDOW West Region Aquatics Tom Nesler, CDOW Species Conservation Aquatic Planner .