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Summary The information contained in this report and the associated instream flow file folder forms the basis for staff's instream flow recommendation to be considered by the Board. It is staff's opinion that the information contained in this report is sufficient to support the findings required in Rule 5.40. Colorado's Instream Flow Program was created in 1973 when the Colorado State Legislature recognized "the need to correlate the activities of mankind with some reasonable preservation of the natural environment" (see 37-92-102 (3) C.R.S.). The statute vests the CWCB with the exclusive authority to appropriate and acquire instream flow and natural lake level water rights. In order to encourage other entities to participate in Colorado's Instream Flow Program, the statute directs the CWCB to request instream flow recommendations from other state and federal agencies. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recommended this segment of Salt Creek to the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. Salt Creek is being considered for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program because it has a natural environment that can be preserved to a reasonable degree with an instream flow water right. The BLM is very interested in protecting stream flows because flow regimes on streams located in the Brush Creek watershed have been significantly altered for municipal and irrigation purposes, and this stream reach is one of the few low elevation locations in the watershed that still possesses a natural flow regIme. Salt Creek is a tributary of Brush Creek and is approximately 10.0 miles long. It begins on the flanks of Porphyry Mountain at an elevation of approximately 10,300 feet and terminates at the confluence with Brush Creek at an elevation of approximately 7,000 feet. Of the 0.4 mile segment addressed by this report, approximately 65% of the segment, or 0.25 miles, is located on federal lands, while the remainder of the segment, 0.15 miles, is located on private lands. The creek is located within Eagle County. The total drainage area of the creek upstream of Kelly Creek is approximately 8.8 square miles. Salt Creek generally flows in a northwesterly direction. The subject of this report is a segment of Salt Creek beginning at the confluence with Kelly Creek and extending downstream to the confluence with the Hashberger Ditch Headgate. This segment is located southeast of the City of Eagle. The staff has received only one recommendation for this segment, from the Bureau of Land Management. The recommendation for this segment is discussed below. Instream Flow Recommendation(s) BLM recommended 1.5 cfs, summer and winter based on its June 11, 2002, data collection effort. The modeling results from this survey effort are within the confidence interval produced by the R2Cross model. Land Status Review Upper Terminus Kelly Creek Lower Terminus Hashberger Ditch Total Length (miles) 0.4 Land Ownership % Private % Public 45% 65% Approximately 65% ofthe reach is located on federal lands managed by the BLM. - 2 -