First of all, I would like to thank everyone who wrote a letter, and for those who just don't have the time, I've composed a brief sample letter that you can cut and paste and send in. If you add a bit about yourself and your experience on Byers/Gore/Pumphouse, it will be more meaningful.
Second, this is not a lost cause! The water rights to remove more water are very junior rights, and very conditional. Plus, the Draft Envirionmental Impact Study they did is a bunch of BS in relation to boating, other recreation, and the health of the river in general as an ecosystem for fishing. We can strike this down with enough oposition.
If you are in the Loveland area tonight, there is a public hearing. There will be a presentation telling the public how wonderful and necessary it is to keep water from flowing in the river (based on a bunch of biased and innacuratly portrayed data), and then THE PUBLIC (YOU) can make comments and ask questions. A representative of AW will be there (thank you Nathan), but we need MORE BOATERS to make a stand so they know this is important to us. You can find more info on the project, and the meeting location in Loveland on AW's site:
American Whitewater - Upper Colorado River in danger of being Flat-Lined!_
example letter from a kayaker: (put DEIS comment in the subject)
Dear Mr. Tully:
I have just found out about a plan to divert peak run off out of Byers canyon and Gore/Pumphouse, to provide more water for the front range. The impact, based on the DEIS will be grave for kayaking Byers, and I feel it will be even worse than the numbers show since 400 cfs (your proposed level for kayaking) is the minimum level for boating, not a good level. I will be very sad to see this river cease to be a kayaking option for me, and it will be tragic if future generations will never have the opportunity to experience this river at proper flows.
IF YOU LIVE IN THE DEN AREA: Personally, I would rather implement water conservation such as watering my lawn less frequently, or during certain hours of the day, or xeroscaping sections to decrease water loss, if this will help keep our rivers flowing for future generations. Why can't we spend some of the millions of dollars this diversion will cost to help us in efforts to conserve water, such as xeroscaping?
IF YOU LIVE IN GRAND COUNTY: Moreover, I am concerned about the economic impact on our community due to a loss of fishing habitat, increase of water temps killing fish, and a reduction in kayaking in Byers, and kayaking/rafting in Gore and Pumphouse. Fishing and boating are a bid part of our tourism economy and in such economic times as these, we can NOT afford a reduction in these activities.
Sincerly,
___________
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