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~6- oal~o6 homesteading, there was also a small sawmill in operation at Piney Lake. The early access to the area was up Gore Creek and thence the trail up Buffer Creek, which today is almost impassable by jeep. Existing Water Rights, Diversions and Water Diversion Proposals Affecting the Piney Drainage Basin There are a number of existing state water rights decrees for irrigation-agricultural purposes situated along the lower Piney. A good many of them are no longer in use at this time. However, the few remaining land owners do irrigate their hay meadows which would appear to be of overall benefit to the environment of the river area by way of recharging normally low late summer stream flows and providing an agricul- tural green belt along the river. . The future of the Piney River Area remains uncertain on account of various water court filings by Front Range transmountain diverters for the right to divert large quantities of stream flows out of the Piney drainage basin under the Continental Divide and eventually to the Denver Metro Area for assorted municipal purposes. 6 The largest and most ominous of these transmountain diversion claims, filed. in court by the Denver Water Board, includes a large fluctuating reservoir at the site of Piney Lake, together with a complex system of diversion structures, conduits and canals which would take the water cut of the Piney drainage basin, unde~ the Continental Divide to the West Fork of Ten Mile Creek and thence into the Dillon Reservoir and on down to Denver via the Roberts Tunnel. All of these water claims are presently pending in a consolidated state water court proceeding, which some attorneys predict will go on for five or more years, probably all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. . 6. In addition to the Denver Water Board's Eagle Piney and Eagle Colorado claims, there are the following other claims which could affect the Piney: a) Central Colorado Water Conservancy District claims on the Piney and Upper Eagle and Colorado Rivers for transmountain diversion purposes. Central's claims appear to overlap and conflict with Denver's claims with respect to location and available water supply. b) Combined reclamation project claim by U.S. Bureau or~'Reclamation and the Colorado River Water Conservation District for the Red Sandstone Project. c) Federal reserved right stream flow claims by the U.S. Forest Service for stream flows adequate to protect the natural environment of the Piney and for other in-stream beneficial uses. d) Stream flow claims by class of state claimants (including Colorado Rivers Council and Trout Unlimited) similar to Forest Service claims but based on state water laws. Also see Exhibit C.