BOARD02200

• Board Meeting Date: 3/26/2001
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

.

.

.

3

Both USDA and USBR appear interested in potential opportunities to improve irrigation
efficiencies in the Mancos area.
Colorado River Headwaters Forum: The next meeting of the forum is scheduled on April 13
in Frisco.

Mexican Delta Tour: From Feb. 26 through Mar. I I toured the Mexican Delta with Kent
Holsiuger and Scott Balcomb. We discussed tnany of the issues that will be presented. to you for
policy recommendations. Of prime importance was the viewing and understanding of Mexico's
Colorado River "plumbing."

Basalt River Master Plan: The Town of Basait has created the River Stewardship Roundtable
to deveiop a river master plan for the three-mile reach of the Roaring Fork River within the town
and to recommend a plan to the Town Board for funding and implementation. The CWCB has
been providing technical assistance to the Roundtable and the town staff and will be developing
a contract for grant assistance. The town is currently finalizing its updated floodplain study,
using newly obtained topographic information to more precisely model the floodplain of the
river. That analysis addresses a non-compliant CDOT levee that nearly failed in 1995. The new
study will be submitted to FEMA shortiy. The Roundtable process also includes stream
instability analyses by USGS and the town's etlgineering consultants. A map of erosion zones
will be prepared. Based on all of these hazards (flooding, erosion, human hazard) the town will
identify its greatest river problems and develop a river master plan to address those problems.

Gunnison River Basin Issues

Programmatic Biological Opinion Meeting: On Jan. 31 a meeting was held in Montrose to
discuss developing a Gunnison River Basin Programmatic Biological Opinion (PBO) pursuant to
the Endangered Species Act. The PBO will defme in detail how actions taken by the Upper
Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program will provide compliance with the
Endangered Species Act for all federal and non-federal water projects in the Gunnison Basin
while endangered fish species are recovered.

PBOs that serve the purpose mentioned above have been completed for the 15-Mile reach of the
Colorado River and is being compieted for the Yampa River.The completion of such PBOs has
been recommended by the CWCB and it is now the state's policy that PBOs are the best way to
ensure the Recovery Program performs its function of recovering endangered fish while water
development continues.

The next meeting is scheduled for June 26 in Montrose. By this time, Reclamation is scheduled
to have completed a water demand project for we basin and more will be known about the
impact the NPS's Black Canyon reserved water rights filing will have on the PBO precess.

Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison Planning Process Update: A coordinating
committee continues to work on the deveiopment of a public process to assist in providing
appropriate instream flow protection on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National
Forests. Bob Storch, the GMUG National Forest Supervisor has been invited to lunch with the
Board on Tuesday to discuss this process.

North Fork of the Gunnison River.Paonia Reservoir Study: The CWCB has contracted with
the North Fork River Improvement Association (NFRlA) for the completion of a study ofPaonia
Reservoir. The study will examine the potential contribution of Paonia Reservoir to the flood

13