BOARD02414

• Board Meeting Date: 9/25/2000
• Description: Directors' Reports
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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The recommendation will be reviewed by the USFWS in an Environmental Assessment (EA).
The recommendation embodies two major goals: providing approximately 7,000 acre feet of water for
the fish from new and existing sources and the management of non-native species.

Participants in the meeting included federal, state and local officials, ranchers and local anglers.
This diverse group decided that with respect to water:

o The Program should continue to lease 2,000-acre feet from Steamboat Lake from Colorado
State Parks;

o Elkhead Reservoir should be enlarged to hold an additional 7,000 acre feet, 3,700 of which
should be available for fish and the remainder available for human use (or fish if necessary);
and,

o 1,300 acre feet should be leased from either other existing sources (like the Tri-State G&T
owned water in Stagecoach) or a new reservoir that would be constructed. Such a reservoir
also may be able to provide non-native fishing opportunities to replace the Pike fishing
opportunities that would be lost in the Yampa River.

The CWCB will have a major role in the enlargement of Elkhead Reservoir and in the
consrtuction of a new reservoir. We will be working closley with the Upper Yampa and Colorado River
Districts on these projects.

Finally, with respect to non-native fish control, the DOW will look at existing stocking
management procedures to determine whether it can relocate non-native fish and screen Elkhead
Reservoir to prevent escapement.

The EA and the plan are expected to be reviewed by the public and meetings will be held in the _
basin later this fall. If successfully reviewed and completed on schedule, the plan will be the basis for a _
Cooperative Agreement between the USFWS and the state. The agreement would then be the basis for a
Programmatic Biological Opinion that could be completed and signed by the end of the year.

The accomplishments to date work would not have come without the efforts of Ray Alvarado and
the use of the CRDSS.

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A copy of the draft Cooperative Agreement is attached for your information.

Agency News

Personnel: We are planning a resignation party for Sue Uppendahl, who worked for the Water
Supply Protection section primarily on Upper Colorado River endangered species issues, on Oct. 14.

Our Accountant Tech, Lisa Fox, is resigning to work for the University of Colorado.

I am continuing to try and fill the board coordinator position that was vacated in mid-June. In the
meantime, Noreen Chambers our office coordinator continues to help out.

WRIC: We will move many of our records and historic documents to our new office space
adjacent to the Colorado Water Congress Office at 1580 Logan Street in early October.
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