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<br />I <br /> <br />Piceance Creek. It is, therefore, the staff recommendation that we <br />change that appropriation of 250 second-feet to conform to the appro- <br />priation above Piceance Creek so that the uniform appropriation on the <br />White River below the junction of the North and South Forks will be <br />200 second-feet. This is not accepta~le to everyone concerned, but in <br />our opinion, it helps to allay some of the fears of Rio Blanco County, <br />their commissioners and the people over there, and it does no signifi- <br />cant violence to the fishery below that point because the water is <br />not there a good part. of the time anyway, particularly the contribution <br />from Piceance Creek and lower tributaries. <br /> <br />. . . <br />This would requ.ire a backup on what we did at the last meeting and <br />instructions to the Attorney General to amend the filing which has <br />already been made to show that the requested appropriation on the <br />White River from the junction of the North and South Forks down to the <br />state line be 200 second-feet instead of 250 second-feet from Piceance <br />Creek to the state line. <br /> <br />MR. KROEGER: What is the desire of the board with regard to this? <br /> <br />MR. SHERMAN: I would like to hear from the Division of Wildlife on <br />the proposed modification. <br /> <br />MR. BARROWS: We, again, discussed this, and I think we need to make a <br />clear distinction here that Mr. Burkhard, in collecting these data, <br />does so by empirical method. As Larry stated, the channel is there, <br />and. .the 250 second-feet of .water is a perfecj:ly legitimate recommenda- <br />tion for instream flows for ~nvironmental.purposes. From our limited' <br />viewpoint, this includes fish and wildlife. It's almost restricted to <br />that. Further, we are charged by our commission to manage all species <br />of wildlife, not just. economic spe~ies. We have a strategic plan <br />which specifically addresses this almost equally. As Larry also stated, <br />we are talking about present endangered species. We are talking about <br />other fish that were formerly considered ~rash fish and which are now <br />considered by this division to be important. So here again we are <br />not particularly satisfied that this reduction can be made. We can <br />live with it. We may have set ourselves up in opposition to the <br />federal Fish and Wildlife Service.. In so doing, they may recommend <br />considerably more water than we have. I hope this isn ':t the case, but <br />it's a possibility. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />So, here again, it is a prudent compromise. As Mr. Cooley stated, it <br />was grudgingly arrived at after some discussion. <br /> <br />MR. SPARKS: I might point out to the board that we have placed hydro- <br />graphic charts in the board folders which demonstra~e the flows that <br /> <br />..,.23.,. <br />