WSP05086

• File Number: 8240.200.10.L
• Description: UCRBRIP
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 1/1/1997
• Author: CWCB
• Title: UCRBRIP News Articles
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: News Article/Press Release

~VI 6.6.1 01

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Fish recovery
plan passed
by river panel

U:SBK W(,;AUi'lV

RECEIVED
OCT 2 2 1997

Colorado Water
Conservation Board

IIy HEA11I~ McGREGOR
The Dmlj Sentinel

GLENWOOD SP!UNGS - The
Colorado River Water Conservation
District boSl'd won praise Tuesday
for approvinll a "West Slope manlfes-
. to" on the Endangered Fish Recovery
Program. '
"This Is 80od. This Is solid stuff:'
said Greg Wslcher, pre9l.dent of Club
20, after the board took its unanimous
action. "Rememb9l' when I was here
In july asking the River District to
step In and provide leadership for the
Western Slope? Well, this is the West.
ern Slope manifesto."
The manifesto, which Will serve as
the River D15trid's official policy on
the recovery program, took the fonn
of a board resolution, It spells out a
list offacts and assWllptlons and calls
for action aimed at serving the Inter.
eats of West em Slope water users.
In particular, the resolution:
. Calls on the U.S. Fish and Wlld.
lire Service to back offon lis demands
for lnstream Ilows and put more em.
phasis on eliminating exotic f>lh, Int.
proving rlverbottom habitat and
stocking native fish,
. Also asks the Fish and Wildlife
Service to make a lIrrn conunltment
to staying In the recovery program
and to promptly define recovery so
everyone kIlows what the target is.
. Asks the U,S. Bureau of Recla.
matlon to quit stil111ng over Round n
water sales from Rued! Reservoir
. Asks transmolmtaln water dl-
verters to shm wIth the Western
Slope the burden of meeting lnstream
flows farflsh,
There was last-minute debate at
the meeting over the wording on this
, last Issue. OfiiclalB with the Ute Wa.
tel' Conservancy District sought to
tone It down. whUe Glenwood
Sprln~ water lawyer Scott Balcomb
ll!'gUed that the resolution needed a
"rtml message,"

"The Eastern Slope usel'$ ara try.
Ing to avoid liabUlty. They. 5ho~d
participate In the. solution. U1

See FISa, page SA >-

FISH: Recovery proposal passed
by Colorado River District board

>- Continued from Page One

addition to being part of the prob-
lem," Balcolllb said,
But Ute Manager lMry Clever
said. "The policy llCles a little too far
In driving a wedge between the East
fUld West Slope. That only benefits
FI5h and Wildlife. It'. the divld&-
and.conquer thing. Wa need to get to-
gether as a state and stand up to Fish
and WUdllfe. Together. we can win."
After more debate. Charlie Stock-
ton, Clever's lIeutenan~ said the \'eo
~ed language would be acceptable.
In other business, the River DIs.
trict approved three budge~ for 19l18:
a $2.5 million administrative budget,
a $2,6 million capital reserve lImd
and a $22111illion entel]>rise budget.
The administrative budget will de-
pend on $1.8 mllllon In property taxes
'from the lSeounty district, a 5,5 per.
cent increase over 1997 that can be ,
accomplished with a 10 percent de-
crease In the mill levy. ,RIsIng

assessed values In the distr1ct mean
taxpayers Will be assessed at O.llO7
mills, down from 0.843 rn.lI1a In 1997,
Increased revenues will be spent to
hlre a $@COM staff attorney, to con.
tract for a water edulatlon ou~ch
coordinator and to offer as much as
S25,OOJ In merit raises to staff. Man.
ager Erie Kuhn wlll get an $um
raise to $94.300.
The agency bas whittled I1s spend.
ing on a Washington, D.C., lobbyISt
from SSO,ooo In 19l16 to $10,000 In 1997
and 1998.
About $18 million of the entel]>r!se
budget Is money earned from the sale
of water In Wolford Mountain Reser.
voir to the Denver Water BoanI, and
that nest egg is expected to srowbyat
least $2 million a year. The money
will be used to buy water rights and
develop smil11.scale water projllClS
elsewhere in the l5-e0Wlty district.
, '