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<br />IN REPLY REFER TO: <br /> <br />CO-932 <br />7250 <br /> <br />United States Department of the Interior <br /> <br />BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT <br />Colorado State Office <br />2850 Youngfield Street <br />Lakewood, Colorado 80215-7093 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />www.co.bIm.gov <br /> <br />DEe 20 Z002 <br /> <br />Mr. Dan Merriman <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 721 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> <br />Dear Mr. Merriman: <br /> <br />The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is writing this letter to formally communicate its <br />instream flow recommendation for Salt Creek, located in Water Division 5. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Location and Land Status. Salt Creek is tributary to Brush Creek, which flows into the Eagle <br />River near the community of Eagle. The stream reach covered by this recommendation starts at <br />the confluence with Kelly Creek and extends 0.4 miles to the headgate of the Hashberger Ditch. <br />Of the 0.4 mile reach, approximately 80 percent is located on public lands. <br /> <br />Biological Summary. Fishery surveys indicate that the stream environment is in stable condition, <br />and supports a self-sustaining brook trout fishery. Channel and bank stability, vegetative cover, <br />substrate, and water quality are excellent for salmonids. However, the stream suffers from <br />excessive erosion upstream, excessively shallow pools, and from high temperatures at low flows. <br />Accordingly, BLM seeks to protect the current flow regime to prevent further stress to the fish <br />population. <br /> <br />R2Cross Analysis. BLM collected one data set on this creek, and the resulting winter <br />recommendation is within the confidence interval for the R2Cross model. BLM intends to return <br />to this stream system at a later date to gather more information about flow requirements and <br />water availability in the summer months. In the meantime, BLM recommends the following flows <br />to protect the natural environment to a reasonable degree: <br /> <br />1.50 cubic feet per second is recommended year-round. This flow meets both the wetted <br />perimeter and average depth criteria, and provides an average velocity of 0.5 feet per <br />second. This flow should provide adequate fish mobility between pools, and it should <br />provide adequate habitat to maintain a viable fish population during low flow periods. <br />Flows needed for reproduction and recruitment will be re-examined at a later date, but it is <br />important to provide interim protection until that time. <br /> <br />e <br />