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<br />I <br />I <br />, <br />I <br />,I <br />,I <br />, <br />, <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I' <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />1\ <br />t~ <br /> <br />Stream: Fourmile Creek <br /> <br />Se~ment: Trail Gulch to Felch Creek <br /> <br />Executive Summary <br /> <br />Upper Terminus: Trail Gulch at (Latitude 380 37' 34") (Longitude 1050 12' 58") <br />Lower Terminus: Felch Creek at (Latitude 380 32' 35") (Longitude 1050 13' 13") <br />Counties: Fremont <br />Length: 6.9 Miles <br />USGS Quad(s): Cripple Creek South and Cooper Mountain <br />Flow Recommendation: 9.10 cfs (Aprill5'h - October 14'h) <br />4.75 cfs (October 15th - Aprill4'h) <br /> <br />Summary <br /> <br />The information contained in this report and the associated instream flow file folder for Fourmile <br />Creek forms the basis for staffs instream flow recommendation to be considered by the Board. <br />It is staff s opinion that the information contained is this report is sufficient to support the <br />findings required 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 statue vests the CWCB with the <br />exclusive to appropriate and acquire instream flow and natural lake-level water rights. In order <br />to encourage other entities to participate in Colorado's Instream Flow Program, the statue directs <br />the CWCB to request instream flow recommendations from other state and federal agencies. The <br />Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recommended this segment of Fourmile Creek to the <br />CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. Fourmile Creek is being considered for <br />inclusion into the Instream Flow Program because it has a natural environment that can be <br />preserved to a reasonable degree with an instteam flow water right. According to the Colorado <br />Division of Wildlife, "Fourmile Creek is considered an example of a high-quality, high-diversity <br />fish community" (see CDOW Aquatic Community Report in Appendix B). The Fourmile Creek <br />natural environment includes but is not limited to self-sustaining populations of brown and brook <br />trout. <br /> <br />Fourmile Creek is a tributary of the Arkansas River and is approximately 46 miles long. It <br />begins on the northwest side of Pikes Peak in Pike National Forest, at an elevation of <br />approximately 10,670 feet, and terminates at the confluence with the Arkansas River near Canon <br />City, at an elevation of approximately 5,375 feet. It flows through federal lands (Pike National <br />Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands), state lands (Mueller State Park and State Land <br />Board Land) as well as private lands. It also flows through two counties, beginning in Teller and <br />ending in Fremont County. The total drainage area of Fourmile Creek is approximately 450 <br />square miles. Fourmile Creek generally flows in a north to south direction. <br /> <br />The subject of this report is a 6.9 mile segment of Fourmile Creek beginning at the confluence of <br />Trail Gulch and extending downstream to the confluence with Felch Creek (See Figure I). This <br />segment is located southwest of the City of Cripple Creek and north of Canon City. To date, <br />staff has received and considered two different instream flow recommendations for this segment <br />of Fourmile Creek, one from the BLM and one from W. W. Wheeler and Associates, Inc. <br />(WWW) and the Queen ofthe River Fisheries Consultants (QR). WWW & QR are representing <br />