Yampa River Gets a Flow Boost Again in 2015

Contact Information
Zach Smith, Colorado Water Trust, 720.570.2897, zsmith@coloradowatertrust.org
Kelly Heaney-Romero, City of Steamboat Springs, 970.871.8205, kheaney@steamboatsprings.net
Kevin McBride, Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District, 970.871.1035, kmcbride@upperyampawater.com

Yampa River Gets a Flow Boost Again in 2015

Steamboat Springs, Co., (August 10, 2015) – The City of Steamboat Springs, Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District, Southwestern Energy, and the Colorado Water Trust have teamed up in 2015 to ensure streamflows below Stagecoach Reservoir on the Yampa River remain at healthy levels. On August 10, the Water Trust and Upper Yampa began releases of water at 12 cfs to boost flows to the decreed instream flow amount of 72.5 cfs between Stagecoach and Lake Catamount.

Thanks to generous funding from Southwestern Energy, CAN’d Aid Foundation, and Bonneville Environmental Foundation, the Water Trust purchased 1185 acre-feet of water from Upper Yampa for $44,781. Releases will rely on Stagecoach’s decreed uses of hydropower, augmentation, and municipal purposes.

In 2012 and 2013, the Water Trust purchased water out of Stagecoach for release to the Yampa River to help maintain healthy stream flows and water quality. Then as in now, the partners are diligently watching streamflows to see whether releases will need to occur this year.

As always, the project wouldn’t be a success without the help of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Tri-State Transmission and Generation, Catamount Development, Inc., Catamount Metropolitan District, and other cooperative water users.

ABOUT COLORADO WATER TRUST: The Colorado Water Trust is a private, nonprofit organization that facilitates voluntary, market-based water rights transactions to restore and protect streamflows in Colorado to sustain healthy aquatic ecosystems. It also works on physical solutions and provides technical assistance on other projects.

Yampa River Gets a Flow Boost Again in 2015