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<br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />Stream: Fourmile Creek <br /> <br />Se~ment: Barnard Creek to High Creek <br /> <br />Executive Summary <br /> <br />Upper Terminus: Barnard Creek at (Latitude: 380 50' 23") (Longitude: 1050 10' 28") <br />Lower Terminus: High Creek at (Latitude 380 48' 48") (Longitude 1050 15' 27") <br />Counties: Teller and Fremont <br />Length: 7,3 Miles <br />USGS Quad(s): High Park and Cripple Creek South <br />Flow Recommendation: 5,80 cfs (April15lh - October 14th) <br />2.75 cfs (October 15th - April14lh) <br /> <br />Summary <br /> <br />The information contained in this report and the associated instream flow file folder for Fourmile <br />Creek forms the basis for staffs instream flow recommendation to be considered by the Board, <br />It is staff s opinion that the information contained is this report is sufficient to support the <br />findings required in Rule 5.40, <br /> <br />Colorado's Instream Flow Program was created in 1973 when the Colorado State Legislature <br />recognized "the need to correlate the activities of mankind with some reasonable preservation of <br />the natural environment" (see ~ 37-92-102 (3) C,R,S,), The statue vests the CWCB with the <br />exclusive to appropriate and acquire instream flow and natural lake-level water rights, In order <br />to encourage other entities to participate in Colorado's Instream Flow Program, the statue directs <br />the CWCB to request instream flow recommendations from other state and federal agencies, The <br />Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recommended this segment of Fourmile Creek to the <br />CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. Fourmile Creek is being considered for <br />inclusion into the Instream Flow Program because it has a natural environment that can be <br />preserved to a reasonable degree with an in stream flow water right. According to the Colorado <br />Division of Wildlife, "Fourmile Creek is considered an example of a high-quality, high-diversity <br />fish community" (see CDOW Aquatic Community Report in Appendix B), The Fourmile Creek <br />natural environment includes but is not limited to self-sustaining populations of brown and brook <br />trout. <br /> <br />Fourmile Creek is a tributary of the Arkansas River and is approximately 46 miles long, It <br />begins on the northwest side of Pikes Peak in Pike National Forest, at an elevation of <br />approximately 10,670 feet, and terminates at the confluence with the Arkansas River near Canon <br />City, at an elevation of approximately 5,375 feet. It flows through federal lands (Pike National <br />Forest and Bureau of Land Management Lands), state lands (Mueller State Park and State Land <br />Board Land) as well as private lands, It also flows through two counties, beginning in Teller and <br />ending in Fremont County, The total drainage area of Fourmile Creek is approximately 450 <br />square miles, Fourmile Creek generally flows in a north to south direction, <br /> <br />The subject of this report is a 7,3 mile segment of Fourmile Creek beginning at the confluence of <br />Barnard Creek and extending downstream to the confluence with High Creek (See Figure I), <br />This segment is located west of the City of Cripple Creek and north of Canon City, To date, staff <br />has received and considered two different instream flow recommendations for this segment of <br />Fourmile Creek, one from the BLM and one from W, W. Wheeler and Associates, Inc, (WWW) <br />and the Queen of the River Fisheries Consultants (QR), WWW & QR are representing the City <br />