State Senator Isgar's bill, SB37 - Concerning the Adjucation of Recreation In-Channel Diversions, setting up regulations for kayak and whitewater parks is the talk of the Colorado Senate this week, according to New West.
From the article, "With meager runoff the past few years, my runs down the lower Blue River, north of Silverthorne, more often than not ended up with my kayak shoaled out in the shallows, stuck in the mud. That's about where the Colorado State Legislature appears to be with its latest effort to define Recreational In-Channel Diversions (RICDs), those stream flows sought by towns to sustain whitewater kayak parks.
"Like a water fight among rafters, boaters and traditional water users - developers, ranchers, cities and farmers - are circling each other and splashing the river with their political paddles. If they find a compromise, it could help establish some certainty for how those recreational water rights are claimed and administered.
"But the bill that's up for discussion on the Senate floor this week would create a second class water right under Colorado's first-in-time, first-in-right doctrine, as The Mountain Mail in Salida reported March 20...
"Some lawmakers are trying to put limits on recreational rights, including a '90-percent' provision, under which the recreational flow rights would only be valid if at least 90 percent of the claimed water is available in the stream. Other language limits the use of water solely to kayak parks, which presumably leaves out other types of recreational uses (angling, for example) that might otherwise be covered under the measure...
"Denver Water is one of the entities supporting the current measure, and according to intergovernmental affairs coordinator Sara Duncan, it's the recreational users that have been intransigent on this issue, refusing to accept any reasonable limitations on their ability to claim in-channel diversions for whitewater parks."
Meanwhile Chaffee County's application for an RICD is moving along, according to the Mountain Mail. From the article, "Unanimous approval for recommendation of the Chaffee County water right application protecting river flow in local whitewater parks came Wednesday from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Eight of 15 members of the conservation board were present at the meeting in Rifle to vote on the application...
"Steve Bushong, water attorney for Chaffee County, said he hopes to have the application before a water court judge within 30 days and expects the judge to sign it within an additional 30 days. Before filing with water court, however, the county needs to finalize a series of understandings with objectors in the case. The issues have been the subject of negotiations during the past year. The primary agreement involves the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, the City of Salida, Colorado State Parks and the Division of Wildlife. Other agreements involve Aurora, Trout Unlimited, Lake County and Pueblo West, among others...
"The Chaffee County request calls for 1,800 cubic feet per second of water in the Arkansas River through Buena Vista and Salida during eight [base "]event[per thou] days in June. The event days are flexible depending upon when the annual FIBArk festival is scheduled in Salida and upon timing of a planned annual whitewater festival in Buena Vista. The request calls for 1,400 cfs during the remainder of June and 700 cfs in July and August as managed by the current voluntary flow program. The call is for 250 cfs the rest of the year...
"As part of the stipulations with objectors, Chaffee County agreed to yield to exchanges that could reduce the peak decree from 1,800 to as little as 1,400 cfs in certain circumstances. During drought, the county agreed to reduce its decree to 1,500 cfs during event days and 1,100 cfs for the rest of June...
Category: Colorado Water
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