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p~ 2 ~tu'61<t- A A~~ I~ #\1- to . . . S.G. Company began a river restoration project on 17,260' of the Blue River stream channel within the Ranch in 1999. In 2002, S.G. Company acquired another 1,240' downstream of its northern boundary which was added to the restoration plan. The restoration work in the Blue River stream channel has now been completed by S.G. Company and, as discussed below, is proposed in this request to serve as mitigation for any injury to the ISF that may be caused by operation of the Oxbow/Floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements. Prior to the restoration work in the Blue River stream channel, the Blue River through the Ranch was typically a wide, shallow rime stream with little holding capacity for fish. The restoration work on the Ranch for the Blue River riparian corridor includes channel restoration for fisheries, floodplain enhancement, off channel oxbow restoration for fisheries, and wetland restoration. The potential injury to the ISF that is proposed in S.G. Company's application in Case No. 04CW238 is necessary to supply water to the Oxbow/Floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements. The Oxbow/Floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements are important to the river environment and provide vegetative structural diversity, waterfowl habitat, fisheries overwinter and nursery habitat, and macro invertebrate breeding and nursery areas. A source of water is necessary to allow the Oxbow/Floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements to function at water elevations that provide important off channel fisheries habitat including a migration connection to the river for fish produced in these oxbows. Water elevation must be maintained to provide permanent hydrology to reclaim areas of abandoned historic wetlands. Lastly a freshet of 5-1 0 cfs of water through the Oxbow/Floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements is necessary to support fisheries and macro invertebrates during critical periods such as winter. Dissolved oxygen samples taken in the first 3 oxbows during winter of2005 indicated reduced depths and oxygen depletion in these ponds due to the lack of flow-through water. No other source of water exists for this project except the Blue River. Location, Extent, Timing and Frequency of Potential Injury Due to the Injury with Mitigation Proposal: The location of the proposed diversion to the Oxbow/floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements is on the Blue River in Section 7, T3S, R 78W, at the Highway 9 Bridge at the headgate of the High-Miller Ditch as depicted on Appendix I. The length of stream affected by the proposed diversion is approximately 6200' or 1.2 miles and is hereafter referred to as the "Oxbow Reach" (starting at G.P.S. point 13S0400509; 4404176 downstream to 13S0398169; 4407173). Diversions of water to the Oxbow/Floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements may need to be made at times when the ISF in the Oxbow Reach is not fully satisfied. However, to minimize the potential injury, out-of-priority diversions into the Oxbow/Floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements will be based on a flow-sharing agreement that is described in detail in Appendix III attached hereto. In general, under the proposed flow-sharing agreement the amount of water that may be diverted into the Oxbow/floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements is directly related to the flow in the Blue River at the time of diversion. As the available flow in the river diminishes during the out of priority period, the amount of water diverted into the Oxbow/Floodplain Fish Habitat Improvements will also Page 2 of 10