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OO~463 Water Riebts Administration With the exception of certain tributaries and the Yampa River upstream from the town of Yampa, . most water rights in the Yampa River Basin have enjoyed freedom from strict administration by the Colorado State Engineer. Similarly, water users in the Wyoming portion of the Basin (e.g., the Little Snake River Basin and its tributaries) have generally not experienced regulation and curtailment of uses by water administration officials ofthe Wyoming Board of Control. The water users of the Basin desire to continue this practice. No one can guarantee that water rights will not be strictly administered in the Basin in the future. This plan has no authority to require nor preclude such administration nor interfere in any way with exercising water rights in the Yampa Basin. Due to concerns expressed by the Service and other Recovery Program participants, Colorado withdrew its application for certain instream-flow water rights on the Colorado and Yampa rivers. The Recovery Program agreed to re-evaluate the need for instream-flow water rights every 5 years. Upon completion of each review, a determination will be made regarding the need to file for instream flow water rights for the endangered fishes. During the final year of the first 5-yearperiod, the Recovery Program and Colorado will develop a process to assess the need for instream-flow protection for endangered fishes. Without in stream-flow rights, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) cannot place a call on the river to serve the flow needs of the endangered fishes. However, such water rights would be junior to most other water rights on the Yampa River and, therefore. subject to be "called out" by senior water rights, when water is most critically needed. I However, Colorado may deliver water from storage for this purpose, as it has done in the past using water leased to the Service from Steamboat Lake. At present, 3,300 AF/year from Steamboat Lake has been reserved for instream use and other purposes, Under the terms of a 5-year lease between the Service and the Colorado Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation (Parks), the Service augmented natural flows in the Yampa River by leasing up to 2,000 AF/year from Steamboat Lake through September 2000. A I-year extension of the lease continued deliveries through November 2001. No water was released from Steamboat Lake for this purpose in 2002. Parks and the Service are attempting to negotiate an interim lease, as part of the proposed augmentation water supply alternative (see Formulation of an Augmentation Strategy beginning on page 42), The Colorado State Engineer ensures that such contract deliveries reach their point(s) of delivery, less any transit losses, using available streamflow gages to track leased water from their source(s), However, in accordance with Colorado water law, only the contract delivery would be protected . from diversion by other water users; the underlying natural flow of the river may be diverted in priority, For example, if river flows were augmented by 50 cfs, water users in priority would be entitled to divert any flows in excess of 50 cfs. Although return flows may restore a portion of any diverted flow, a series of intervening diversions between the augmentation source and point(s) of delivery could effectively limit river flows at the point of delivery to the flow rate of the augmentation releases (i.e.. 50 cfs). ~ In addition, Tri-State currently bypasses up to 1,000 AF/year of its direct-flow water right for Craig Station, pursuant to a biological opinion for Unit 3 (USFWS 1980), when river flows fall below certain targets (150, 110 and 115 cfs in August, September and October, respectively). Once base-flow augmentation proposed in this plan is implemented and legally protected, Tri-State would be entitled to curtail bypassing flows as stipulated in a Water Management Plan for Craig Station Unit 3 (Knutson 1992). Management Plan for Endangered Fishes in the Yampa River Basin 29