New Report on Impact to San Miguel River From Proposed Reservoirs
Posted: 01/09/2017
By: Evan Stafford
Colorado - American Whitewater has released a new study
on whitewater recreation in the San Miguel River Basin. As a product of our dedicated work
defining recreational flows and representing whitewater recreation interests for the Colorado
Water Plan, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) requested that Montrose County consult
with American Whitewater on recreational needs and future impacts for the San Miguel River.
Montrose County acquired conditional water rights to the San Miguel River in southwest Colorado
in hopes of building multiple new reservoirs on BLM land. American Whitewater worked with
Montrose County’s agents to assess the impact its conditional storage proposals would have
on existing recreational opportunities.
Using flow ranges American Whitewater defined though a study earlier in 2016 and historic
hydrologic data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), AW defined the number of
boatable days (days throughout the year when flows are above minimum and below maximum acceptable
levels) in four different year types: dry, dry average, wet average, and wet for the San Miguel
River. This Boatable Days analysis allows for assessing the affect that future reductions in
flow, attributed to new projects, will have on boatable days available for whitewater users.
Montrose county supplied simulated daily depletions (cfs) for historic water years associated
with three project alternatives and American Whitewater used these simulated depletions to
recalculate the number of days when boatable flows would have been available with these reduced
flows.
American Whitewater found no reduction in boatable days due to the simulated depletions in
historic flows for any of the alternatives provided for the San Miguel River. This was not
surprising considering the three alternatives only resulted in average annual changes in flow of
~ 1% and average daily depletions of under 4 cfs. This study sets a new precedent for American
Whitewater’s involvement in assessing the future impacts new water projects will have on
recreation opportunities in Colorado and possibly across the country. Developing the Boatable
Days metric provides the best quantification of river-related recreation opportunities and
enables decision-makers to assess and address the impacts to whitewater boating attributes in
future water rights development and water demand scenarios. We are proud to have put this
assessment to use for the first time in a state sponsored consulting role and are excited to use
this method in the analysis of impacts to recreation from proposed future water projects.
If you are interested in reviewing our study you can read it or download a copy of it HERE.
Mighty Arrow Family Foundation
Nathan Fey
1601 Longs Peak Ave.
Longmont, CO 80501
E-mail: nathanfey@mightyarrow.org
Phone: 303-859-8601
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