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<br />-,w. ';?-. <br /> <br />IN REPLY REFER TO: <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.goy <br /> <br />CO-932 <br />7250 <br /> <br />DEe 20 2002 <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 (ELM) is writing this letter to formally communicate its <br />instream flow recommendation for Spring Creek, located in Water Division 5. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Location and Land Status. Spring Creek is tributary to the Eagle River one mile east of the <br />town of Gypsum. The stream reach that was surveyed runs from the headwaters to the headgate <br />of the Best Ditch. Of the 1.80 mile reach, 100 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 naturally reproducing Colorado River cutthroat trout population. Food availability <br />and vegetative cover are good for salmonids, but pool habitat and spawning habitat is a limiting <br />factor because of the steep gradient. The paucity of pool habitat and spawning habitat <br />underscores the importance of protecting sufficient water for maintaining the limited physical <br />habitat. <br /> <br />R2Cross Analysis. BLM collected two data sets and the resulting winter recommendation is <br />within the confidence interval for the R2Cross model. BLM is not making a separate summer <br />recommendation at this time because Spring Creek is almost entirely fed by springs. There is little <br />variation in the flow of the stream, and the recommended flow is a high percentage of the flow <br />that is typically present. BLM intends to revisit the creek during snowmelt runoff to take surveys <br />that will help determine if a higher summer flow is required. In the meantime, BLM's data <br />analysis indicates that the following flow is required to protect the fishery and natural environment <br />to a reasonable degree: <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />0.35 cubic feet per second is recommended year-round. This recommendation meets both <br />the average velocity criteria of 1.0 feet per second and the 50 percent wetted perimeter <br />criteria. Under both modeling runs conducted to analyze this reach, the depth never <br />