During a meeting about instream flow recommendations Tuesday, philosophical differences over water bubbled to the surface, but Colorado Water Conservation Board and Bureau of Land Management staff were prepared. With various firming projects and water-clarity issues weighing on the West Slope’s shoulders, Grand County Commissioners told the agencies earlier that day, “We are a little uncomfortable when it comes to water.” The instream flow meeting, held at the County Road and Bridge building, was hosted by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and the BLM. The BLM, as it does each year, has recommended segments of Grand County streams for further protection. The Conservation Board was formed in 1973, when the Colorado Legislature recognized “the need to correlate the activities of mankind with some reasonable preservation of the natural environment.” It is considered one of only two entities in Colorado that allows water rights for non-consumptive use. Before it, Colorado water law written in the mid-1800s had been based solely on beneficial use. The law did not recognize water rights for the purpose of merely of keeping water flowing in rivers. The laws “don’t fit today’s Colorado,” said Kirk Klancke, river advocate and president of the local chapter of Trout Unlimited. Klancke supports a “tweaking” of those laws to allow those with water rights the ability to keep them without being forced to consume — in other words, keep water rights for the river itself.

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