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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 (BLM) recommended this segment of Thomas <br />Creek to the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. The BLM is very interested <br />in protecting stream flows because BLM has made significant progress in improving riparian and <br />stream conditions in Thomas Creek, thereby expanding the fish population. <br /> <br />Thomas Creek is a tributary of the Crystal River and is approximately 8.0 miles long. It begins <br />on the flank of Mt. Sopris at an elevation of approximately 11,500 feet and terminates at the <br />confluence with the Crystal River at an elevation of approximately 6,400 feet. Of the 1.8 mile <br />segment addressed by this report, approximately 80% of the segment, or 1.4 miles, is located on <br />federal lands, while the remainder of the segment, 0.4 miles, is located on private lands. The <br />creek is located within Pitkin County. The total drainage area ofthe creek upstream of the Lewis <br />Ditch is approximately 4.7 square miles. Thomas Creek generally flows in a northwesterly <br />direction. <br /> <br />The subject of this report is a segment of Thomas Creek beginning at the outlet of St. John <br />Reservoir and extending downstream to the Lewis Ditch Headgate. This segment is located <br />south of the City of Carbondale. The staff has received only one recommendation for this <br />segment, from the Bureau of Land Management. The recommendation for this segment is <br />discussed below. <br /> <br />Instream Flow Recommendation{s) <br /> <br />BLM recommended 2.5 cfs, summer, and 2.0 cfs, winter, based on its October 2, 1997, data <br />collection effort. The modeling results from this survey effort are within the confidence interval <br />produced by the R2Cross model. <br /> <br />land Status Review <br /> <br />Upper Terminus <br />Outlet St. John <br />Reservoir <br /> <br />Lower Terminus <br />Lewis Ditch <br />Headgate <br /> <br />Total Length <br />(miles) <br />1.8 <br /> <br />Land Ownership <br />% Private % Public <br />80% 20% <br /> <br />Approximately 80% of the reach is located on federal lands managed by the BLM the other 20% <br />is private land. <br /> <br />Biological Data <br /> <br />The BLM has conducted field surveys of the fishery resources on this stream and have found a <br />natural environment that can be preserved. As reported for this reach of stream in the letter to <br />the CWCB "Fishery surveys indicate that the stream environment is in improving condition, and <br /> <br />- 2 - <br />