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<br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />Endangered Fish Recovery lnstream Flow Appropriation <br /> <br />Draft September 21, 1995 <br /> <br />ALTERNATIVE III: Development Carve Out or Converse Instream Flow <br />Water Right - Two levels of a water depletion carve out are <br />identified for a basin and no administration is sought until the <br />first level of carve out is fully utilized <br /> <br />Assumotions: <br /> <br />1. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) flow recommendation for maintaining <br />a relatively natural hydro graph would be satisfied by an instream appropriation <br />which first allowed 164,572 afto be carved out from the natural flow (undepleted <br />and unregulated) originating in a basin. Alternatively, it would allow an additional <br />51,772 af per year (the lower limit of compact development) to be carved out <br />from the annual total gaged flow which already reflects an estimated 112,800 af <br />of depletions. This carve out is considered to be the lower limit of the Yampa <br />Basin's proportionate share of Colorado's remaining compact apportionment to <br />reach the 3.079 maf level of consumptive use. <br />2. Water is physically available for the Service's flow recommendations as per the <br />Colorado River Physical Water Availability Study conducted by the Colorado <br />Water Conservation Board (Board) staff, which was based largely on work done <br />for the Board by Leonard Rice Consulting Water Engineers. <br />3. Legal water availability was derived from information developed by the Ad Hoc <br />Endangered Fish Flow and Colorado River Compact Water Development <br />Workgroup (Workgroup) as follows: <br /> <br />Present Level of Development <br />Workgroup Projection <br />(Lower Limit) <br />Lower Limit of Total Consumption <br />Additional Amount Necessary to meet <br />Colorado's full Compact Development <br />Upper Limit of Total Consumption <br /> <br />= 112,800 af <br /> <br />= 51.772 af <br />= 164,572 af <br />164,572 af <br />= 173.491 af <br />= 338,013 af <br /> <br />4. Distribution of the "Lower Limit of Total Consumption" (an additional 51,772 af <br />annually) or the first level of compact development allowance is based on a <br />monthly water demand distribution pattern derived from the 1995 Yampa River <br />Basin Feasibility Study and outlined on the basic data sheet (Table lc). <br /> <br />5. Distribution of the "Upper Limit of Total Consumption" (an additional 173,491 <br />af annually) or the second level of compact development allowance is based on <br />a dry year hydrograph derived from the Colorado River Physical Water <br />Availability Study and outlined on the basic data sheet (Table Id). Water users <br />in the Yampa Basin are suggesting that only 50,000 af of the 173,491 af <br />