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<br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />F AI RFI ELD AN D WOODS. P. C. <br /> <br />Honorable Duane Woodard <br />August 25, 1988 <br />Page 4 <br /> <br />Jesse at 495 shows the reservation was to protect "the <br />stream flow for irriqation purooses. It is those irrigators and <br />"the people who live in the vallevs through which these great <br />rivers flow," who must be protected. Id. Many of those people <br />are protected by allowinq in-forest diversions, and their <br />economic livelihood can be defeated by the U. S. instream flow <br />claims. <br /> <br />"If, however, the timberlands are protected and kept intact, <br />the melting of the snow will be gradual, floods will be pre- <br />vented, and flow will be maintained until late in the spring." <br />Thus, encroachment of vegetation, which also shades snow and <br />forces percolation accomplishes the same purpose as leaving <br />timber standing in the forest, it can help and not hurt the pur- <br />poses. The same point is made in the footnote on page 496, where <br />"leaves, twigs, decaying vegetable matter, underbrush, and root <br />systems" permi ts "the water to percolate readily, changing a <br />large amount of it from surface drainage into subterranean <br />channels." vegetation encroachment increases percolation. <br />Increasing sedimentation in the stream also increases percolation <br />and tends to widen the alluvium. Reduced flows, because of in- <br />forest diversions, can increase vegetation encroachment, sedimen- <br />tation, and percolation, and make the water more usable. <br /> <br />The legislative history shows "mechanical retardation of the <br />surface water flow" is good because it promotes "subterranean <br />drainage, ensuring to springs a greater supply for a longer <br />time." The chief "mechanical retardation" would be manmade dams, <br />which the U.S. claims would prevent. <br /> <br />The statutory citation on page 496 shows "for the use and <br />necessities of the citizens of the United States," may modify <br />"favorable conditions of water flow," as well as timber. The <br />necessities of citizens of Colorado are for usable water. <br />Favorable conditions of water flow cannot mean flows "to maintain <br />minimum instream water flows and natural lake levels for aes- <br />thetic, recreational, and wildlife preservation purposes." Jesse <br />at 497. <br /> <br />At pages 500 and 501, the national forests "are not parks <br />set aside for non-use, but have been established for economic <br />reasons." Control of timber cutting is an independent means of <br />preserving water within the forest and that to the extent timber <br />. is not cut when it could permissibly be cut, water diverters on <br />