BOARD01632

• Board Meeting Date: 9/13/2004
• Description: ISF Section - Proposed Water Right Acquisition - Elkhead Reservoir Enlargement
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Septembe>' 2, 20042

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Resolutions adopted on July 16, 1985, October 19, 1993, October 19, 1999, and October
17, 2000. The River District has authority to perform all acts and things necessary or
advisable to secure and insure an adequate supply of water, present and future, which
includes the authority to construct, own, operate, and maintain water storage facilities;
and

WHEREAS, The River District is authorized to contract to deliver water for
beneficial use from River District water projects pursuant to the provisions of section 37-
46-101, et seq., C.R.S.; and

WHEREAS, the Recovery Program has determined that the following water
supplies are needed within the Yampa River Basin to provide water for endangered
native fish species during the critical low-flow periods in the reach of the Yampa River
located within the State of Colorado from the confluence of Elkhead Creek downstream
to the confluence of the Green River ("Critical Habitat Reach"): 1) 5,000 acre-feet
Permanent Water Supply and 2) 2,000 acre-feet Short-Term Water Supply; and

WHEREAS, the River District has entered into Agreements with the City of
Craig, the Yampa Participants, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife that allow the River
District to construct an enlargement ofElkhead Reservoir (the Reservoir Enlargement) on
Elkhead Creek tributary to the Yampa River. Pursuant to these agreements, the River
District will obtain storage space by the construction of the Reservoir Enlargement. The
River District has filed an application (Case No. 02CW106) in Water Division No.6 to
confirm its appropriation of water from Elkhead Creek to fill the River District's storage
space in the Reservoir Enlargement. Upon construction, water from the Reservoir
Enlargement will be available to provide a water source for the Permanent Water Supply
and the Short-Term Water Supply; and

WHEREAS, the River District will convey to the Colorado Water Conservation
Board ("CWCB") through a separate Acquisition Agreement the water storage easement
and water storage rights necessary for the Permanent Water Supply and the Short-Term
Water Supply; and

WHEREAS the River District is willing to lease, for a term of20 years, water to
Reclamation and the Service to provide a Short-Term Water Supply of up to 2,000 acre-
feet of water annually from the Elkhead Reservoir Enlargement to be used for the benefit
of the endangered native fish species in the Yampa River Basin; and

WHEREAS, Reclamation and the Service on behalf of the Recovery Program,
wish to lease from the River District up to 2,000 acre-feet of water annually to be
released from the Elkhead Reservoir Enlargement and further intends to make such 2,000
acre-feet of water available for use by the CWCB as a sublessee, to monitor and protect

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