BOARD02010

• Board Meeting Date: 9/24/2001
• Description: Snowmass Water and Sanitation District 404 Permit
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

e

SNOWMASS CREEK AND A PETITION TO MODIFY DEPARTMENT OF THE
ARMY PERMIT NUMBER 6516 TO PROTECT THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

e

On July 7,2000, the Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District received a petition to
modify a Section 404 of the Clean Water Act permit (190106516) issued to the Snowmass Water
and Sanitation District (SWSD). The permit issued in 1979 authorized the construction of a
diversion dam in Snowmass Creek to supply raw water for municipal purposes to serve the Town
of Snowmass Village. The Snowmass-Capitol Creek Caucus, American Rivers, Sierra Club,
Ferdinand Hayden Chapter of Trout Unlin1ited, Aspen Wilderness Workshop, Roaring Fork
Chapter ofthe Audubon Society, Windstar Land Conservancy, and High Country Citizens
Alliance have submitted the petition. The Petitioners request that we modify the permit issued to
SWSD to include a condition making all diversions from the authorized diversion dam from
October 16 to March 31 each year subject to the stair-step in-strean1 flow developed by the State
of Colorado for Snowrnass Creek. The petitioners propose that we condition this permit to
match the in-stream flow right held by the State of Colorado through the Colorado Water
Conservation Board (CWCB). The state's in-stream flow is a water right held under Colorado
Water Law. The CWCB's in-stream flow right is junior to the SWSD's water right, thus the
stream can, and will be, depleted below thtJ state's in-stream flow decreed to protect the
environment to a reasonable degree. Basically, the state's in-stream flow only protects the
stream for diversions of water for snowmaking purposes as the SWSD's water right that allows
them to sell water to the ski area is junior to the state's in-stream flow right. The water diverted
from Snowmass Creek for use in the Brusb Creek valley does not return to Snowrnass Creek as
treated wastewater as the treatment plant discharges into Brush Creek. The Petitioners suggest
that we condition this permit to include an exception from the minimum flow requirements for
emergency needs. W tJ often use the presence and condition of a self-sustaining trout fishery in
mountain streams as an indicator of the condition of the aquatic environment

1. Area Description: The Town of Snowmass Village (the Town) lies at the base of the
Snowmass Ski Area, a major downhill ski resort operated by the Aspen Skiing Company. The
SWSD was formed to provide municipal water to the Town and now also provides water for
snowmaking to the Snowrnass Ski Area. The Town and the Ski Area occupy the upper portions
ofthe Brush Creek watershed (watershed of 17 square miles). Across a small divide to the west
is the much larger Snowrnass Creek watershed which begins in the Snowmass-Maroon Bells
Wilderness Area with peale elevations above 14, 000 feet. The SWSD diversion dam is 1.5 miles
downstream of the wilderness boundary and the watershed above the diversion occupies 39.5
square miles, Below the diversion, the creek flows through a U-shaped valley for approximately
ten miles to the confluence with the Roaring Fork River, The strean1 flows through private land
and is bordered by a mixture of riparian forest, willow wetlands and hay meadows.

e

2. Brief History: In 1979, the Corps issued permit number 190106516 to the SWSD
authorizing the construction of the diversion dam. The dam and pipeline can divert 6 cfs of
water from Snowmass Creek and pump that water over the small divide to the SWSD's water
facility. The permit was issued after a fOllJlal public hearing. The Snowmass/Capitol Creek
Caucus (Caucus), Pitkin County and others originally objected to the issuance of this permit but