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<br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Under the terms of the settlement, the NPS will receive a 300 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) reserved <br />water right with a priority date of 1933 (when the park was created). But instead of new federal <br />rights, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) will file for instream flow rights to <br />peaking flows when there is sufficient water in the basin, in accordance with Colorado water law. <br />These flows will OCCllr an ~~tlt1Jated one of ~very t..lu-ee years a.'1d ','X.'ill 2.cccrrlplish u myri~d of <br />environmental benefits. <br /> <br />They will be released with the cooperation of the NPS, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. <br />Fish and Wildlife Service, the CWCB and water providers in the basin. More detail on how the <br />flows will be administered and protected in collaboration with the Department of Interior will be <br />worked out within the next 120 days. <br /> <br />"This is precedent setting agreement and it demonstrates what we can do when we work together <br />in a collaborative manner," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "The Interior Department places a <br />high premium on acknowledging and respecting the role of states in helping us to properly manage <br />and protect the nation's natural resources." <br /> <br />The historic agreement is thought to be the first time that water rights to satisfy federal obj ectives <br />are to be filed and protected by state governments, under state water law. In exchange for that <br />agreement by the federal agencies to work through state law, Colorado agreed to a provision <br />guaranteeing that the law will be enforced, giving the National Park Service the certainty it <br />needed. <br /> <br />### <br /> <br />002354 <br />