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<br />'. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Settlement Fund; (4) Final Settlement; and (5) Statutory Construction, Treatment of Certain Funds. This <br />legislation has not yet been introduced in either house. Work on the Supplemental EIS is continuing. <br /> <br />Lower Rio Blanco Habitat Restoration Project Status Report: The Rio Blanco Habitat <br />Restoration Demonstration Project (Project) is.a cooperative effort among state, local and federal entities <br />designed to reduce nonpoint source pollution and improve habitat on the Rio Blanco. <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />On September 17, 1996, the Colorado Nonpoint Source Program Task Force voted to commit <br />$96,000 in grant funds to the San Juan Water Conservancy District to restore a 2.I-mile segment of the <br />Lower Rio Blanco. The Lower Rio Blanco Habitat Restoration Demonstration Project was one of four <br />projects selected by the Task Force for funding that year. An additional $64,000 was matched by financial <br />and in-kind contributions from the San Juan District, the Lower Blanco Property Owners Association, the <br />Southwestern Water Conservation District, the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Colorado <br />Division of Wildlife. Our in-kind contributions included public facilitation, public information/education <br />and technical assistance. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Rio Blanco is a tributary of the San Juan River and is a significant source of water for Bureau <br />of Reclamation's San Juan-Chama Project. The San Juan-Chama Project is a major trans-basin diversion <br />that has been diverting water through a series.ofpipelines into the Rio Grande basin since 1971. In the <br />1996-1997 water year, the total project diversions totaled 93,000 acre-feet of water. For the Rio Blanco, <br />the diversions associated with the San Juan-Chama Project represent 70% of the historical flows. These <br />reductions in flow have contributed to poor water quality conditions, reduction in fishery habitats, <br />streambank erosion, sediment loading, relatively high water temperatures and a wide, shallow streambed <br />with little pool habitat and cover to support a cool water fishery. The project involves a watershed-based <br />approach to restoring the river which includes improving fish habitat, stabilizing stream banks, re- <br />configuring the charmel to better match the existing flow rates, enhancing floodplain functions, <br />conducting a public education and information program and monitoring water quality improvements. <br /> <br />After a two and a half-year delay, the San Juan Water Conservancy District has decided to begin <br />construction on October I. Due to this delay, funding is only available for the habitat restoration of an <br />approximate one-mile reach. In the future, the District expects to additional grants in order to complete the <br />2.2 mile reach of the stream. The District recently met with the project designer, Dave Rosgen of <br />Wildland Hydrology, and he expects to finish construction this year despite the wet season being <br />experienced in southwest Colorado. <br /> <br />South Platte River Basin <br /> <br />Special Water Committee: On September 15, Hal Simpson, Kent Holsinger and I testified <br />before the General Assembly's Special Water Committee. The Special Water Committee was established <br />in 1996 (SB 96-74) to investigate Denver Basin groundwater management and South Platte River Basin <br />issues. In 1996, the committee defined the scope of the technical study of the South Platte River Basin <br />and the Denver Basin aquifers. In 1997, the Special Committee received briefings on the study's <br />preliminary results, heard testimony, and toured the South Platte River Basin. In 1998, they received the <br />final results of the study, heard testimony, and recommended legislation. HB 99-1222 charged the <br />committee to investigate Denver Basin groundwater management and South Platte River Basin issues by <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />16 <br />