Wednesday, April 19, 2006

 

Western Water Project

Copyright 2006 Trout Unlimited:
---VERY IMPORTANT FISHING INFORMATION
Wild and native trout need water, every day. They need enough water to hide from predators, find food, migrate and reproduce. In many parts of the West, where water is scarce, there is not enough water left in rivers to support robust trout populations - and sometimes, there is not enough water for any fish at all.

Western water laws place little value on water that is not diverted for human purposes. Consequently, mining, agricultural and municipal users often drain rivers dry during certain times of the year. Shortage of water, and dramatic alterations to natural flow patterns, are some of the primary reasons why many of the West's native cutthroat and wild trout species, as well as almost all western salmon and steelhead populations, are in trouble.

Of all of threats to trout and salmon, the issue of leaving enough water in rivers is perhaps the most difficult to address. There's an old saying in the West that still holds true: "Whiskey's for drinkin', but water's for fightin'." Legal rights for water left in the rivers - "instream flows" -- are either not recognized by states, or are of low priority in a legal system that gives highest priority for use to people who hold the oldest (most "senior") rights.

To tackle the problem of dry and depleted rivers in the West, Trout Unlimited (TU) started the Western Water Project in 1997. In partnership with WaterWatch of Oregon, TU opened offices in Montana and Colorado staffed with experienced water law attorneys. The goal of these offices is to protect and restore water in rivers for healthy fisheries and to open up state decisions on water allocation to meaningful public participation.

The success of the Western Water Project's efforts in Colorado and Montana has led to the opening of additional offices in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and California.

In just five years of operation, the Western Water Project had made a real difference. Here are a few of our accomplishments:

* The Montana Water Project has secured water leases in several chronically dewatered basins, including the largest instream flow lease ever completed in the Western U.S. by a private group (totaling more than 220 cfs on three tributaries of the upper Madison River).
* Thanks in large part to work by the Colorado Water Project, the Colorado legislature successfully passed a bill in the 2002 legislative session to improve stream flows in Colorado. SB 156 expands the state's instream flow program to allow acquisition of senior water rights for conversion to instream flow rights. The new law also allows these rights to be used for "reasonable" flows to improve the environment, whereas the law previously allowed only "minimum" flows to maintain existing environmental conditions.
* In February 2003, the Utah Water Project signed a settlement agreement with PacificCorp and state and federal agencies to decommission the American Fork Hydro Electric Project. This project is located in the popular American Fork Canyon and covers portions of a national forest, a national monument, and a wilderness area. Under the terms of the agreement, PacificCorp will remove a diversion dam and pipeline, restore the stream to a more natural condition, ensure fish passage, and transfer the water right to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to maintain adequate flows.
* In 2003, the Wyoming Water Project was instrumental in convening a study committee under the Joint Agriculture Committee to review Wyoming's water law and propose legislative options, the start of a process to facilitate privately held water rights to benefit instream flows and aquatic ecosystems.

Comments:
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Paul
 
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