State, District Reach Deal Over Gunnison White-Water Course

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- - - - - - - = " �TEI EMBER - _23,1005 By Jerd Spa ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS A high- country water district and the state of Colorado have settled their differences over a controver- sial white -water kayaking course on the Gunnison River. The settlement guarantees enough frothy water to satisfy kay- akers while protecting others who use Gunnison Riverwater. "We're very pleased," said Cynthia Covell, the attorney representing the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District. "This is defi- nitely a victory for recreational wa- ter users." The case, the subject of a Colo- rado Supreme Court ruling last March, has garnered widespread at- tention in Colorado because the Gunnison River course was one of the first created under a ground- breaking 2001 law authorizing local governments to claim recreational water rights. The Colorado Water Conserva- tion Board, charged with managing the state's streams and administer- ing the 2001 law, has fought several proposed white -water courses, say- ing that some either claim too much water in the stream, threaten the " Th is is an example of hove parties can come together to reach a reasonable compromise." Ted Kowalski, of the Colorado Water Conservation Board's recreational water program state's ability to deliver water owed to other states, or could hamper the ability of others, such as cities and farmers, to claim_ additional water in the future. But communities that have sought to build white -water courses have argued successfully that this new use of water is justified and pro - vides a secondary environmental benefit to the stream. In the Upper Gunnison case, the water district agreed to reduce the maximum amount of water it want- ed between May and September to 1,200 cubic feet per second per down from its original request of 1,500 cfs. The Colorado Water Conserva= tion Board originally had tried to limit the course to a maximum of 250 cfs, according to Ted Kowalski, who oversees the recreational water program for the water board. But Kowalski said the board was satisfied with the settlement be- cause the water district agreed to limit its requests for recreational wa- ter at certain times when stream flows are low and others are trying to divert water from the river. "This is an example of how parties can come together to reach a reason- able compromise," Kowalski said. Such conflicts between recrea- tional and traditional water uses are becoming snore common through- out the West, as population pres- sures strain water supplies and com- petition for what remains grows. The settlement comes nine months after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the Upper Gunni- son District had a legitimate right to claim recreational flows in the stream and to determine the amount of water it needed for its course. But since that decision, the legal wrangling has continued as several other communities, including Silver - thorne and Steamboat Springs, sought water for their white -water courses, too.