Wednesday, December 21, 2005

In-Stream flows for trout The Craig Daily Press reports that Moffat County Commissioners are not happy about a proposal for in-stream water to protect cutthroat trout. From the article, "Proposals by state water officials aimed at maintaining water levels in two local streams are unnecessary, Moffat County officials said Tuesday. At issue are water rights and efforts to protect Colorado cutthroat trout. Moffat County commissioners signed a letter to the Colorado Water Conservation Board on Tuesday in which they said they oppose instream-flow designations on Beaver Creek and Little Cottonwood Creek. The instream-flow designations are designed to maintain the water levels in the streams. If the water board approves the designations, the state would have a water right on the streams. The water right could be used to maintain current levels if there is a future conflict about where the water should go. Officials from the Colorado Water Conservation District say the designations are needed to maintain water levels for cutthroat trout." Category: Colorado Water 6:16:20 AM     New GOCO rules for whitewater parks Great Outdoors Colorado is reviewing their rules on whitewater parks, according to the Rocky Mountain News [December 21, 2005, "White-water park rules drafted"]. From the article, "Great Outdoors Colorado is drafting new rules for white-water parks, saying it wants to clarify its own policies on how grants to build the parks are awarded. White-water advocates worry that the proposed rules may serve to restrict construction of the parks, which are wildly popular with kayakers and the cities that host them. At the same time, the Colorado Water Conservation Board - charged with regulating the streams in which the parks operate - has asked GOCO to tread lightly in the highly charged water arena, saying that cities that win GOCO grants to build the parks too often use the extra money to battle the water board in court over the contentious water issues associated with the kayak courses...GOCO's local government committee will discuss the proposed rules at a meeting at 10 a.m., Feb. 16 at its offices in Denver, at 1600 Broadway, suite 1650. The GOCO board is expected to examine the proposal at its meeting in March." Category: Colorado Water 5:52:39 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 10:53:52 AM.