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State agencies recommend in‑stream flow protections on Mill and Pando creeks to aid rare San Juan lineage cutthroat trout
Summary
The Colorado Water Conservation Board and Colorado Parks & Wildlife presented recommendations to seek new in‑stream flow water rights for Mill and Pando creeks near Purgatory Mountain, aiming to protect San Juan lineage cutthroat trout and secure habitat for future natural recruitment; commissioners agreed to provide a local letter of support by consensus.
State water and wildlife staff briefed San Juan County commissioners on proposed in‑stream flow recommendations intended to protect headwater tributaries that CPW has identified as candidate habitat for reintroduction of San Juan lineage cutthroat trout.
Brandy Logan of the Colorado Water Conservation Board summarized the in‑stream flow program’s purpose and process, noting it was established in 1973 to allow CWCB to appropriate or acquire water to “preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree.” Logan described the three statutory findings required before the board can appropriate or acquire a water right: (1) a natural environment exists, (2) the appropriation will preserve that environment, and (3) no material injury will occur to other water rights.
Katie Birch of Colorado Parks & Wildlife presented biological field work and hydraulic transect data used to shape CPW’s recommendations on Mill and Pando creeks on Coalbank Pass. For Mill Creek CPW proposed biological flow targets approximately 1.1 cubic feet per second (CFS) for baseflow periods and up to about 4.1 CFS during high‑flow months to meet hydraulic habitat criteria. Pando Creek is steeper and more dynamic; CPW revised an initial larger target downward based on water‑availability analysis. CPW has stocked San Juan lineage cutthroat and observed fry in Mill Creek, indicating natural recruitment there.
Commissioners asked how the county could help. Logan said local letters of support are useful to CWCB’s board as staff advance recommendations to the water court process. Commissioners signaled by consensus they would provide a letter to CWCB in support of the recommended Mill and Pando creek reaches.
The in‑stream flow process includes further data analysis, public outreach and likely several years before any water court appropriation is finalized; CPW and CWCB staff encouraged ongoing local engagement during outreach.
