BOARD02469

• Board Meeting Date: 7/18/2005
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

will be under protective measures of the HCP.

San Juan/Dolores River Basin

San Juan Public Lands, "Government to Government Roundtable" Update: The
San Juan Public Lands - "Plan for the Future" is a long-term planning effort by the U.S.
Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the San Juan
Basin of southwestern Colorado. The San Juan Public Lands Center, as the joint
USFS/BLM management unit is know, is the first governmental unit of this type to
conduct such a joint long-range planning effort. This plan will address the management
of over 2.5 million acres of National Forest and BLM lands.

As part of this planning effort a "Government to Government Roundtable" was formed to
lead discussions on water issues in the plan revision process. Since the first meeting of
the Roundtable in May 2005, two additional meetings have been held one in June and one
in July. The process is beginning by laying a foundation of information for the
Roundtable participants. Topics discussed have included: applicable Federal and State
laws, the Multiple Use concept, the process - a Deliberation Funnel, the State's Instream
Flow Program, and stream needs and expectations from a fishery perspective.

Future topics to be discussed will include: Water Facilities, Permitting Requirements,
Options; Wild and Scenic Rivers, Wilderness, Federal Reserved Water Rights; and other
topics to be determined. Additional meeting are anticipated to run at least through the
end of the year. Currently, the only scheduled meeting is August 3'd, 2005 in Durango.

For additional information on the San Juan Public Land - "Plan for the Future" or the
"Government to Government Roundtable" process, please contact the following offices:

San Juan Public Lands Center
Ph. 970-247-4874
www.fs.fed.us/r2/san iuan
www.co.blm.gov/sjra/index.html

Office of Community Services
Ph. 970-2477468
http://oes.fortl ewis.edu/forestplan

Rio Blanco River Restoration Project Update: The Lower Blanco Property Owners
Association held its Annual Meeting on Saturday, June 25th on the banks of the Rio
Blanco River. The area where the meeting occurred was within the Blanco River
Restoration Project area. Don Schwindt, CWCB Board Member for the area, was unable
to attend and asked Dan Merriman, CWCB Staff, to stand in for him. Mr. Merriman gave
the keynote address to approximately 80 residents and project supporters. The Blanco
River Restoration Project represents a prime example of a true "grassroots" effort by
local people to address a natural resource issue in a positive and constructive manner. In
the past nine months the Blanco experienced two runoff events that were higher than any
recorded past occurrences. In September 2004 a rainfall event hit the area with a high
peak short duration event and again this past spring the river experienced high flows
through a high sustained snowmelt runoff event. While the river restoration project
experienced some damage during these two back-to-back events, it held up exceptionally

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