BOARD01821

• Board Meeting Date: 9/24/2001
• Description: ISF Section - Injury with Mitigation - Three Forks Ranch, LLC - Case No. 6-00CW48
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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

STATE OF COLOR!\DO

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MEMORANDUM

Bill Owens
Governor
Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director
Rod Kuh03rich
eWeB Director
Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

To:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

From:

Dan Merriman
Ted Kowalski
Greg Espegren

Date:

September 12, 2001

Re:

Agenda Item 19, September 24-25,2001, Board Meeting --
Stream and Lake Protection - Injury with Mitigation - '
Three Forks Ranch, LLC - Case No. 6-00CW48.

Background
This is an application for approval of a plan for augmentation on the South and Middle Forks of
the Little Snake River near the Colorado-Wyoming border (see attached map). Applicant
proposes to augment out-of-priority diversions made into the Upper Meadow Ponds Ditch, and
other ponds and ditches, for recreational, aesthetic, piscatorial and wildlife purposes. The
Applicant owns water rights and irrigated lands in the area, and intends to dry up the lands and
use the consumptive use credits to replace the depletions during the irrigation season. However,
the Applicant's augmentation supply is not adequate to replace depletions to the instream flow
outside of the irrigation season. The Applicant has also performed extensive stream habitat
improvements in several reaches of the Little Snake River.

The Board holds an instream flow decree for 20 cfs with an appropriation date of September 23,
1977, which could be injured by this application.

Pursuant to Section 9.41 of the CWCB's Rules and Regulations, staff proposed a stipulated
settlement that would provide full protection to the Board's Middle Fork of the Little Snake
River instream flow water rights. Staffs original proposal would have required that out-of-
priority diversions be: 1) replaced from a source located at or upstream of the Upper Meadow
Ponds Ditch, or 2) curtailed at any time the Board's instream flow water rights on the Middle
Fork of the Little Snake River are not being satisfied.

CWCB and SEO staff members met with representatives of the Ranch on June 8, 2001 to tour
and evaluate their stream habitat improvement. The Applicant designed the project to minimize
excessive streambank erosion and improve the hydraulic parameters within the stream channel to
enhance fish habitat, particularly during low flows. The project has enhanced 1.06 miles of the

Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Financing. Stream and lake Protection
Wilter Supply Protection. Conservation Planning