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<br />..--..-------- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Western Slope representatives and Yampa River water interests over the past two years to <br /> <br /> <br />estimate future development opportunities within the major subbasins of the Upper Colorado <br /> <br />River basin. <br /> <br /> <br />The CWCB staff also emphasized that the water which would be protected for instream <br /> <br /> <br />flow purposes is water that Colorado is not legally entitled to develop under interstate <br /> <br /> <br />agreements, Instead, these are the flows which exceed the supplies allocated to Colorado, and <br /> <br /> <br />which must leave the state for use in downstream states. For this reason, the proposed <br /> <br />instream flow protection should only influence the time of year that water will be available to <br /> <br /> <br />future residents and businesses. <br /> <br /> <br />Currently, between 85,000 and 115,000 acre feet of water are used within the Yampa <br /> <br /> <br />River basin for agricultural, domestic and industrial purposes, depending upon rainfall and <br /> <br /> <br />other conditions. The proposed 52,000 acre foot development allowance represents an <br /> <br /> <br />increase of about 50 percent over present levels of development within the Yampa Basin. The <br /> <br />board repeated its intent that these flow protection measures must allow for modification of the <br /> <br /> <br />proposed peakflow water right in the future if necessary to accommodate additional <br /> <br /> <br />development. <br /> <br />Some members of the public said they remained skeptical about how the instream flow <br /> <br /> <br />rights will be calculated and administered, <br /> <br /> <br />"At the board's direction, we will be reviewing OUT proposal to make sure that it will <br /> <br /> <br />not tie up all the available water supplies, or protect for more water than the biologists think is <br /> <br /> <br />absolutely necessary to recover the endangered fish. We will also continue our meetings with <br /> <br /> <br />Yampa Basin interests to develop additional storage needed to assure that water will be <br /> <br /> <br />available when its needed for both the recovery effort and future human needs in the valley, " <br /> <br />said Peter Evans, deputy director of the CWCB's staff. <br /> <br /> <br />"We will continue working with all the key stakeholders between now and the <br /> <br /> <br />December 13, 1995 meeting of the board to resolve the concerns raised today, but it may be <br /> <br /> <br />that settling several of those concerns will require more time. Therefore, we will prepare our <br /> <br /> <br />application to the water court in December to allow these discussions to continue as long as <br /> <br /> <br />necessary," Evans said. <br />