a
process by which state and federal agencies, local water users,
and conservationists are participating in a facilitated discussion
to explore options for increasing water flows below McPhee Reservoir.
 The
hoped for outcome from the Dolores River Dialogue is an agreement
with water users and water managers to either change operation
of McPhee Reservoir so that water releases result in larger downstream
flows, or to make water available for purchase or lease to downstream
recreation and conservation users. Technical experts from the Natural
Heritage Institute and The Nature Conservancy are assisting with
this endeavor.
The Dialogue is crucial to long-term success in our
conservation efforts in the Basin because it creates trust and
working relationships between conservationists and the two large
water diversion entities, the state water administrators, and federal
land and water management agencies. Entities represented at the
table include agricultural water users, county representatives,
federal agencies, state agencies, the Colorado Water Conservation
Board Instream Flow Program, The Nature Conservancy, and the Colorado
Water Trust, along with the Dolores River Coalition of 24 conservation
organizations.
The Dolores River Dialogue site hosts the scientific reports and official documents of the Dialogue effort.
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This Plan To Proceed outlines the three technical understandings required to get to the point where the Dolores River Dialogue Group can make a responsible decision about what, if any, action to take to implement its goals:
- A water availability analysis needs to be done. That analysis needs to describe the amount of water expected to flow downstream of McPhee Reservoir through spills and base flow releases. It also needs to describe the realistic opportunities to manage or enhance those flows.
- An analysis of potential downstream environments needs to be made. The science associated with different flow patterns downstream of McPhee Reservoir needs to be described.
A correlation between those two efforts needs to be made that will illuminate the practical actions that could result from the efforts of the DRD Group.
- A matrix of doable alternatives with identified consequences (scientific, institutional, legal, political, fiscal) will be described. The Plan’s finished products are designed to be thorough, credible, and realistic in their analysis of what is possible and what hurdles different actions may potentially face.
The DRD, in keeping with the Plan to Proceed, has completed a Hydrology Report and a Core Science Report addressing the geomorphology, riparian ecology and warm and cold water fisheries on the Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir. The integration of information from the hydrology and core science reports into a Correlation Report is being used to evaluate strategies involving spill and base flow management and enhancement as well as in-channel restoration efforts. The DRD is committed to the systematic monitoring and evaluation of ecological benefits and water management parameters to support good decision making and the efficient allocation of resources. Opportunities for ecological improvements within water management parameters are being explored using the DRD Flow Options Opportunity and Constraints Matrix which is currently under development.
The Big Gypsum field site is being used to evaluate the ecological response of the Dolores River to various flow, spill management and restoration opportunities resulting from a combination of weather conditions, water management decisions and restoration experiments.
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