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<br />FLAT TOPS WILDERNESS <br /> <br />The Flat Tops Wilderness is located in the Routt and White River National <br />Forests. This area was designated by Congress as a wilderness by Public Law <br />94-146 (89 Stat. 802) on December 12, 1975. There are no non-Federal lands <br />above the wilderness. The area contains 235,230 acres, of which 195 acres are <br />in non-Federal ownership. <br /> <br />It is estimated that the Flat Tops Wilderness and a small area of NFS lands <br />above a part of the wilderness produces an average of 390,400 acre feet of <br />water per year. If entirely utilized, absolute water rights within the wilder- <br />ness would divert and store approximately 3,000 acre feet of the water yield. <br /> <br />Within the wilderness, there are 10 absolute rights and 12 decreed conditional <br />rights on Federal lands; and, 5 absolute rights and no decreed conditional <br />rights on non-Federal lands. Above the wilderness on the watershed, there are <br />no absolute rights and 3 decreed conditional rights on Federal lands, and no <br />absolute rights or decreed conditional rights on non-Federal land. <br /> <br />The risk of future water developments affecting the water resources of the Flat <br />Tops Wilderness is minimal. It is not economically feasible to build a small <br />project on either of the two small parcels of non-Federal land (one about 80 <br />acres and the other about 115 acres) within the wilderness. A larger project <br />would require the use of wilderness land, which would require Presidential <br />authorization. Any attempt to divert water across the wilderness would require <br />Presidential authority to implement. Furthermore, diversion and irrigation on <br />site is not feasible because the average elevation is about 8,000 feet making <br />it impractical for irrigation and production of domestic crops. Both of these <br />parcels of land have several private residences on them that are used inter- <br />mittently during the summer and early autumn for recreation. Several have <br />small domestic water developments located on them at present. There are two <br />small water rights on non-Federal land which were adjudicated in 1984, after <br />the date of the designation of the wilderness. Both rights are for domestic <br />use; one for 0.02 cfs of water, and the other for 0.04 cfs. The estimated <br />total consumptive use for these two water rights is 0.03 acre feet per year. <br />We consider these amounts of water to be so small as to pose no threat to the <br />wilderness water resources. It is conceivable that more small developments <br />could be made in the future for similar small amounts for domestic purposes, <br />which, likewise, will not noticeably diminish the wilderness water resource of <br />the Flat Tops Wilderness. <br /> <br />The following table for the Flat Tops Wilderness lists the various water rights <br />existing in and where applicable above this wilderness. The various columns <br />identify the names of the Forest, structure and source of water, location, <br />amount and type of right, dates of appropriation and adjudication, date of <br />designation of the wilderness and the relationship of water rights to land <br />ownership in and above wilderness. <br /> <br />17 <br />