BOARD02440

• Board Meeting Date: 1/25/2005
• Description: ISF Section - Instream Flow Appropriations - Muddy Creek Paonia Reservoir
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO

Bruce McCloskey, Director
6060 Broadway
Denver, Colorado 80216
Telephone: [phone]-'192

Bill Owens, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

DIVISION OF WilDLIFE

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

December 15, 2004

Mr. Dan Merriman and Mr. Todd Doherty
Colorado Water Conservation Board
Stream and Lake Protection Section
1313 Sherman Street, Room 723
Denver, Colorado 80203

Re: Colorado Division of Wildlife Instream Flow Recommendations for Muddy Creek.

Dear Dan and Todd,

The purpose of this letter is to officially transmit the Colorado Division of Wildlife's Instream Flow
Recommendations for Muddy Creek in Gunnison County. The reach of stream covered by this flow 'I
recommendation is from the confluence of East and West Muddy Creeks to the inlet of Paonia ;Reservoir, a
distance of approximately 9 miles. "

In the fall of 1998, the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), with the assistance of staff from the Colorado
Water Conservation Board (CWCB), collected stream cross section information, natural environment data,
and other data needed to quantify Instream Flow needs for the Muddy Creek. Muddy Creek is classified as
a river (between 60 to 99 feet wide) and fishery surveys indicate the stream environment of Muddy Creek
supports populations of White suckers, Bluehead suckers, Fathead minnows, Speckled dace and Mottled
sculpins. This type of stream environment has steep gradients that typically limit the available pool habitat
and food supply. Accordingly, it is important to provide stream flows that protect the limited amount of
available habitat if the continued existence of the fishery is to be assured

The stream cross section data was analyzed using the R2CROSS program. The R2CROSS output was
evaluated using the methods described in Nehring (1979) and Espegren (1996). The CDOW has reviewed
the data collected to date and based on that review recommends that the CWCB appropriated the following
flow amounts to preserve the natural environment of the Muddy Creek to a reasonable degree:

. 56 cubic feet per second is recommended for April 1 through July 14. This flow is required to
maintain the three principal hydraulic criteria of average depth, average velocity and percent
wetted perimeter;

. 25 cubic feet per second is recommended for July 15 through March 31. This flow is required to
maintain two of the three principal hydraulic criteria of average depth, average velocity and
percent wetted perimeter.

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Russell George, Executive Director
WilDLIFE COMMISSION. Philip James. Chair. Jeffrev Crawford. Vice-Chair. Brad Phelps, Secretary
Members, Bernard Black. Tom Burke. Rick Enstrom. Claire 0' Neal. Robert Shoemaker. Ken Torres
Ex Officio Members, Russell George and Don Ament