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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 Butler Creek <br />to the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. Butler Creek is being considered <br />for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program because it has a natural environment that can be <br />preserved to a reasonable degree with an instream flow water right The BLM is interested in <br />protecting stream flows because Butler Creek is one of the few streams managed by BLM in the <br />Rifle area that is capable of supporting a trout fishery. <br /> <br />Butler Creek is approximately 8.5 miles long. It begins near Forest Service Road 211 at an <br />elevation 9,500 feet, and terminates at the BLM Boundary (SW SW S18 T4S R92W 6PM) at an <br />elevation of approximately 6,650 feet Of the 2.2 mile segment addressed by this report, 2.0 <br />miles, or 75%, are located on federal lands. The remaining 0.6 miles, or 25%, are private lands. <br />The creek is located within Garfield County. The total drainage area of the creek upstream of <br />George Creek is approximately 6.3 square miles and upstream of Middle Rifle Creek is <br />approximately 17.3 square miles. Butler Creek generally flows in a southerly direction, <br /> <br />The subject of this report is a 2,2 mile segment of Butler Creek. This segment is located north of <br />the City of Rifle. The staff has received only one recommendation for each segment, from the <br />Bureau of Land Management The instream flow recommendation for this segment is discussed <br />below, <br /> <br />Instream Flow Recommendation(s) <br /> <br />BLM recommended 2.4 cfs, summer, and 1.1 cfs, winter, based on its September 1, 1999, 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 />BLM Boundary <br /> <br />Total Length <br />(miles) <br />2.2 <br /> <br />Land Ownership <br />% Private % Public <br />25% 75% <br /> <br />Upper Terminus <br />George Creek <br /> <br />Lower Terminus <br /> <br />Approximately 75% of the reach is located on federal lands managed by the BLM the other 25% <br />is private land, <br /> <br />Biological Data <br />The BLM has conducted field surveys of the fishery resources on this stream and have found a <br /> <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 good condition, and <br /> <br />- 2 - <br />