BOARD02476

• Board Meeting Date: 9/13/2004
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

. Does Colorado Need an Intrastate Compact? - Russell George, Director of the Colorado
Department of Natural Resources. This keynote speech will examine one possible option for
equitably sharing Colorado's water resources.

. A View from Outside the Fishbowl: How the Rest of the State Views the Colorado River Basin
-panel discussion. Representatives from outside the Colorado River Basin offer their
perspectives on the challenges, opportunities and unique circumstances they face as they
develop their future water supplies.

. Instream Flows and Recreational Water Rights: Benefits and Doubts about These New Values
for Water - panel discussion. There is growing interest in keeping more water in streams.
While proponents cite economic, environmental and other benefits of increased streamflows,
others point out there are risks associated with these flows.

For more Infonnation call Peter Roessrnann at the Colorado River District at [phone], ext. 36,
or bye-mail at proessmannlalcrwcd.or!!. You may also click onto www.crwcd.org for additional
postings.

Fish and Wildlife Resources Fund (FWLRF) Grant Request: Weare evaluating a request by the
Town of Granby from the FWLRF Account (Board Policy 15). The purpose of the proposed project is
to restore a 0.5-mile reach of the Fraser River that runs through the Town of Granby. This reach of the
river has been impacted by a combination of recent low flows, an increase in recreational fishing, and
the Denver Water's diversion expansion of Moffat Tunnel Collection System. Should the Granby
proposal meet the requirements of Policy 15, staff will present an action item at the November Board
meeting.

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Gunnison River Basin

Aspinall Unit Operations Meeting: The following are highlights from the meeting held at the Elk
Creek Visitor Center at Blue Mesa on Aug. 26:

1. Inflows to the Aspinall Unit this year were approximately 50% of average. Due to conservative
management of the reservoir, storage in Blue Mesa is higher than in recent dry years but still
below average. Blue Mesa Reservoir might fill next year with average or above-average runoff
conditions.

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2. Black Canyon winter flows will probably be 300 - 350 cfs.

3. The turbines at Crystal have been repaired and improved. They will be tested in mid-
September and hopefully return to service immediately thereafter.

4. Redlands Canal and power plant will be offline all winter for construction of a fish screen at the
intake structure to prevent future "take" of endangered fish by the canal. This downtime may
benefit upstream storage.

5. The USBR announced that the Aspinall EIS process is being delayed due to internal
discussions regarding details of the EIS and its scope. Ed Warner said the USBR Grand
Junction office has recommended that the EIS process continue as originally scoped. Many
attendees expressed their desire to have the EIS process continue as scoped and were adamant
that the USBR not consider a direct consultation with the USFWS on existing Aspinall
operations. A direct consultation only on Aspinall operations would not protect other users in
the basin and would allow the USFWS to demand the USBR follow one particular action to
avoid jeopardy rather than exploring multiple options in an EIS and detennining which is
optimal.

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