BOARD02312

• Board Meeting Date: 11/19/2001
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

from the Aspinall Unit during this period of fish passage operation to assure that passage operations ,~o not
result in a call on the Gunnison River. This is a temporary contract and may change in 4-years when it has to
be renegotiated, It is the desire of the Gunnison Basin water users that the "call protection" provided by the a
Aspinall Unit under this contract become permanent in nature. ..

Gunnison Basin Programmatic Biological Opinion (PBO)

The process for developing a PBO for the Gunnison Basin ~as initiated in July 2000. Several meetings have
occurred, but the process has been put on hold until such time as some of the issues associated with the
Gunnison River flow recommendations and the NPS reserv~d water right can be resolved. The purpose of
the PBO is to provide comprehensive ESA protection for all existing and some increment of future
depletions while concurrently taking necessary actions to recover endangered fish specieS in the basin.
Again, water provided for endangered fish recovery would be consider part of the flow recommendations
and beyond what Colorado would be entitled to develop un~er the Colorado and Upper Colorado River
Compacts. Water developed or reserved for future developjnent would be within Colorado's compact
apportionment. .

Instream Flow Water Rights - Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests:

CWCB staff continues to meet with US Forest Service (USFS) staff and the GMUG steering committee
(Pathfinder Group) to assist in the development of a forest plan for the GMUG National Forests. The
purpose of the GMUG steering committee is to identitY instream flow needs for GMUG national forest
streams and to identify the appropriate level of protectjon needed to meet USFS resource management
objectives that are in balance with off-forest demands an,d uses. The USFS hopes that the outcome of this
process will result in increased certainty, better decisions, land less conflict concerning water management. It
is the hope of the CWCB that the USFS will utilize toe CWCB's instream flow program to accomplish
instream flow protection. The effort is currently focusing on Willow Creek, a tributary of the Taylor Rive.
above Taylor Park Reservoir, as a pilot watershed. .,

Other Considerations (1) There may be other considerations such as legal findings in some water cases,
water quality classifications and standard reviews, selinium and various workgroups dealing with these
issues that should be considered. However, the issues discussed above are the ones that we have been
attempting to address in a comprehensive matter as water issues.

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