Summary
Meeting on Ruedi Winter Lease
Basalt River Center, 7 PM
11/8/18
Linda Bassi made a brief presentation on the 3500AF lease of Ruedi Reservoir contract
water between the CWCB and the River District, emphasizing that it will benefit both the
Fryingpan River during extreme low flow periods, and the 15-mile reach of critical
endangered species habitat. Releases from Ruedi under the lease would be dedicated to
augmenting streamflow in addition to the adjudicated minimum stream flow between the
Ruedi outlet works and the confluence with the Roaring Fork River. From that point to
the 15 mile reach, the additional releases, after March 31st would be shepherded as
augmentation water for the endangered fish.
The purpose of the lease, and releases thereunder, is to prevent the formation of anchor
ice in the Fryingpan when releases are less than 70 cfs and temperatures are in the single
digits. Anchor ice harms macroinvertebrates and young fish and thereby affect the health
of the fishery. Drought conditions are forcing the Bureau of Reclamation to drop releases
from Ruedi to around 40 cfs in order to minimize drawdown and meet Ruedi’s obligation
to fill by July 1, 2019. Decreed minimum winter streamflow in the Fryingpan is 39 cfs or
inflow, whichever is less. The Bureau has always maintained 39 cfs below Ruedi Dam
even when inflow dropped below that level. In order to augment this number, the River
District and the CWCB have entered into a lease of 3500 af of the River District’s
contract water in Ruedi. That water can be released between Jan 1 and March 31 of 2019
to augment streamflow. If released at an even rate of 30 cfs (the amount needed to bring
the 40 cfs minimum streamflow up to the 70 cfs required to mitigate the formation of
anchor ice), the 3500 af of leased water will last for 59 days. The lease is for one year
only and should be considered a ‘trial run’ for future similar leases. Water will be
released in quantities and at times according to the recommendations of the Colorado
Parks and Wildlife and Roaring Fork Conservancy.
Water remaining in the lease pool could be dedicated to augmenting flows in the 15 mile
reach between March 31 and the end of the year although those releases would be
coordinated with the CWCB, the River District, and the Fish and Wildlife Service and
would be administered under and agreement between those parties. That water could be
used to fill the ‘April Hole’ and annual depletion of the Colorado in the 15 mile reach
resulting from early irrigation demands at a time when the river is not yet swollen with
runoff.
Margaret Medellin and Rob Covington brought up the impact of low flows on the Ruedi
Hydro Plant. The plant is operational at 50 cfs or more but once flows go below that level
the plant loses efficiency and could be damaged because the turbine is not designed to
operate at such low flow levels. Pool elevation, which translates into head pressure, is
critical to maintaining smooth operation so a low reservoir plus low flows is a recipe for
plant dysfunction. The additional flow from the lease releases will help operation but
only after 1/1/19. Low flows between the date of flows dropping (i.e. 11/12/18) and

 1/1/19 could be problematic. The operators will be monitoring plant operations closely as
flows drop to monitor performance and possibly shut the plant down if problems develop.
The availability of additional water for release through leases with contractors could help
address this problem while also improving downstream conditions. Few, if any of the
contracts for Ruedi water currently include hydro production as an approved use.
Tim Miller of the Bureau of Reclamation pointed out the competing interests at Ruedi
and the difficulty of meeting everyone’s needs to their satisfaction. Those interests
include the Fryingpan fishery, hydro plant operations, refill of the reservoir, meeting
minimum streamflows, providing for endangered fish and following the dictates of the
Fryingpan Arkansas Project operation principles. Meeting these various interests, some of
which are incompatible, means that interested parties will not have all of their concerns
fully addressed.
There was a discussion of the availability of Ruedi contract water for stream
augmentation purposes. John Currier of the River District pointed out that contracts with
the Bureau of Reclamation for Ruedi water are specific about the possible uses of that
water and only contracts that specify piscatorial or streamflow augmentation as possible
uses would be eligible for those purposes. The River District’s contract for Ruedi water
does include those uses so the River District would be willing to negotiate additional
leases of their water under terms to be determined. Those leases would probably need to
be with the CWCB to bring them under the State’s authority to administer Colorado
Water Law and to minimize NEPA complications, although conditioning releases upon
the recommendation of CPW and RFC could be incorporated into the lease terms. Local
residents of the Fryingpan have also expressed interest in contributing to additional leases
of water in order to help support the fishery during low flow periods.
John Currier and others noted that any additional leases or other measures to alter Ruedi
release patterns is not a short-term fix and that any changes are unlikely to be
implemented this winter. Negotiation of lease terms, integration with Bureau of
Reclamation responsibilities, NEPA compliance and other issues will need to be
resolved. This process could go on even longer if it includes efforts to modify other
Ruedi contracts to include piscatorial or streamflow purposes. At the same time,
additional releases must be balanced against the Bureau’s obligation to refill Ruedi by
July 1 of any given year. Since the current lease of 3500 af is for one year only,
administration of that lease in 2019 will give the parties an opportunity to ‘experiment’
with additional releases, should they be necessary after 1/1/19. This year’s operations
could result in changes to future contracts/leases in light of a year’s experience. For
instance, there may be an opportunity in the future to use leased water to flush the river to
improve habitat or for other purposes unrelated to low winter flows.