Halfordian Golfer wrote:

Willi


What *is* your point anyway, just to deride me or are you supporting
the developers or what? Should we conserve using an introduced or
genetically altered fish that can survive drought flows so that we
can drain the water from the river? That's what you seem to be
implying.


I guess I'm busting your chops because it seems that for you, every
fishery issue, comes back to your hatred of C&R and Rainbow Trout.

Introducing native Cutts, although this is something I favor, is not
going to stop the construction of the reservoir. The decision on the
reservoir will be made this Summer.

The proposed reservoir WILL have no effect (well there can always be
unforeseen effects) on the river above the point where the water will be
removed. It's not a damming of the Poudre, it's an off river reservoir
that will rely on a new piping system as well as existing canals to
transport water from the river to the reservoir.

My point is that no more water should be taken out of the river and that
flows should be better managed for the health of the river environment.

Although it is, by far, the most heavily used part of the river by
recreational users, there is no "official" recreational usage "on
record" for the river below the canyon mouth. Because of this, like you
heard in the Water Board's response, their position is that there is
"no" recreational usage of the Poudre below the canyon mouth and
dewatering the river even more will not have any effects on peoples'
usage. I'm in a group that's doing a study for the DOW to establish the
recreational usage of the section of the Poudre that will be dewatered.
I've been doing a survey of anglers to establish angler usage of this
area. This study will be part of the EIS that will be considered. This
is the first time in Colorado that an Environmental Impact Statement was
part of the approval process for a new water storage reservoir.

There are three possible outcomes (There are more, but for simplicity sake):

1. The reservoir will be built and the Water Board will regulate water
distribution like it currently does.

2. The reservoir will be defeated

3. The reservoir will be built but the Water Board will have to
mitigate for the damages the construction of the reservoir will cause. A
possible mitigation (one that the DOW favors) is to have some other
entity (possibly the DOW) have the right to make water demands for the
good of the river itself. In addition, the Water Board would have to
spread out their discharges to keep a more even flow in the river. Now,
in order to reduce the amount of water loss from infiltration and
evaporation, the Water Board will "push" water down the lower Poudre as
fast as possible. They raise the river level up several feet for a day
or so, then drop it back down the virtually no flow after they've moved
all the water they wanted.

It's not about C&R and Rainbow trout.

Willi