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<br />Summary <br />The information contained in this report and the associated instream flow file folder forms the <br />basis for staff's instream flow recommendation to be considered by the Board. It is staff's <br />opinion that the information contained in this report is sufficient to support the findings required <br />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 statute vests the CWCB with the <br />exclusive authority to appropriate and acquire instream flow and natural lake level water rights. <br />In order to encourage other entities to participate in Colorado's Instream Flow Program, the <br />statute directs the CWCB to request instream flow recommendations from other state and federal <br />agencies. The Bureau of Land Management recommended this segment of Cottonwood Creek to <br />the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. Cottonwood Creek is being <br />considered for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program because it has a natural environment <br />that can be preserved to a reasonable degree with an in stream flow water right. The BLM is very <br />interested in protecting stream flows because during snowmdt runoff, Cottonwood Creek <br />provides additional fish habitat for the fish population that resides in the San Miguel River, and <br />the creek has a resident speckled dace fishery. In addition, snowmelt runoff flows provide <br />important recharge of the alluvial aquifer that supports a diverse riparian community. <br /> <br />Cottonwood Creek is 10.0 miles long. It begins near Darling Lake and Box Spring on the <br />southwestern flank of Uncompahgre Plateau at an elevation of approximately 9,900 feet and <br />terminates at the confluence with the San Miguel River at an elevation of approximately 5,400 <br />feet. Approximately 66% of the 3.2-mile segment addressed by this report is located on federal <br />lands. Cottonwood Creek is located within Montrose County. The total drainage area of the <br />creek is approximately 47.2 square miles. Cottonwood Creek generally flows in a southwest <br />direction. <br /> <br />The subject of this report is a segment of Cottonwood Creek beginning at the confluence Little <br />Cottonwood Creek and extending downstream to confluence San Miguel River (see Map <br />Appendix D). The proposed segment is located northeast of the Town ofNaturita. The staff has <br />received only one recommendation for this segment, from the BLM. The recommendation for <br />this segment is discussed below. <br /> <br />Instream Flow Recommendation(s) <br /> <br />BLM recommended 3.0 cfs (April I to June 15) based on its July 18, 1995 data colleetion efforts <br />(see Appendix A). The modeling results from this survey effort are within the confidence <br />interval produced by the R2Cross model. <br /> <br />land Status Review <br /> <br /> Total Length Land Ownership <br />Upper Terminus Lower Terminus (miles) % Private % Public <br />Confluence Little Confluence with <br />Cottonwood Creek confluence San 3.2 34% 66% <br />Milmel River <br /> <br />- 2- <br /> <br />, <br />