1996 Steamboat Lake Lease and Sublease

• Case Number: 95CW0150
• Stream Name: Yampa River
• Watershed: Yampa River
• Water Division: 6
• Water District: 58
• County: Moffat
• Instream Flow Acq - Doc Type: Contracts, MOA/MOU, Leases, Agreements

WHEREAS, it is the duty of the CWCB to promote the
conservation of the waters of the state in order to secure the
greatest utilization of such W4ters and the utmost prevention of
floods, which includes the power and the duty to: cooperate with
the United States and its agencies for the purpose of bringing
about the greater utilizatioh of the waters of the "state;
investigate and assist in fOr11lulating a response to the plans,
purposes, procedures, requirements, laws, proposed laws, or other
activities of the federal government which affect or might affect
the use or development of the w4ter resources of the state; confer
with and appear before the Officers, representatives, boards,
bureaus, committees, commissions, or other agencies of the federal
government for the purpose of protecting and asserting the
authority, interests, and rights of the State of Colorado and its
citizens with respect to the waters of the interstate streams in
the state; and, in general, take such action and have such powers
as are incidental to the foregoing specific provisions and to the
general purposes of the statut~ (S;37-60-106, C.R.S.); and

WHEREAS, the CWCB is vested with the exclusive authority to
appropriate and acquire such waters of natural streams and lakes as
the CWCB determines may be requtred for minimum stream flows or for
natural surface water levels or volumes for natural lakes to
preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree pursuant to
S;37-92-102(3), C.R.S.; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to con~ultations under Section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act, the Se~ice found that new water projects
in the Upper Colorado River l3asin would likely jeopardize the
continued existence of the endangered fish species, so that the
protection of the endangered fish threatened to embroil all
interested parties in a confrontation between resource protection
and resource development; and

WHEREAS, the states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah; the
Service; the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; the Western Area Power
Administration; water resource development organizations; and
environmental organizations developed and agreed to the Recovery
Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper
Colorado River Basin (Recovery Program); and

WHEREAS, the purpose of the Recovery Program is to recover the
endangered fish while providin~ for water development tG continue
and proceed in the Upper Colorado River Basin in accordance with
interstate compacts and federal and state law; and

WHEREAS, one element of the Recovery Program, S;4.1, involves
identifying the endangered fish species' flow requirements and
acquiring or appropriating water or water rights to provide those
flows in a manner consistent With all state laws; and

WHEREAS, the Service is r~lying upon the CWCB to appropriate,

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