Crystal River (CO) Wild & Scenic Feasibility Committee Consensus
On leap day, the Crystal River Wild and Scenic and Other Alternatives Feasibility Steering Committee came to a consensus on a recommendation to the Town of Marble, Gunnison and Pitkin Counties, and the Colorado River Water Conservation District to protect the Crystal River. Three subcommittees were recommended to continue to implement protection measures discussed by the steering committee over the past year. The subcommittees are based on two river protection options: a state and local approach employing an intergovernmental agreement between the counties and enhanced instream flows through the state and federal wild and scenic designation. These protection approaches were designed and agreed upon by the steering committee late last year.
There is a subcommittee dedicated to developing and drafting the intergovernmental agreement, another will investigate protecting peak flows of the river through a state-held instream flow right, and the final group will develop a legislative framework for a wild and scenic designation for the headwaters to above the first significant agricultural diversion. American Whitewater will lead and facilitate the group discussing Wild and Scenic protections and attend the other committee meetings. The subcommittees are poised to start work immediately drafting approaches, plans and frameworks and will reconvene this summer to share progress and seek buy-in across all stakeholders.
The process local stakeholders have undertaken over the past year stands on the shoulders of years (about 40!) of discussions around Wild and Scenic protections for the Crystal River. With the support of skilled facilitators, Wendy Lowe and Jacob Bornstein, the community began discussions around shared values and goals rather than tools to achieve protections. This approach quickly identified a significant amount of agreement between stakeholders, some of whom have been long at odds. Values included: Durable and effective protection, Prevention of dams and out-of-basin diversions, Sustainable recreation and tourism, Protection of local agriculture & water rights, Local control of property rights, Protection and enhancement of a healthy river corridor, Effective capacity and funding, and Limited future development: prohibitive of future development near the river.
The Crystal River is undammed and enjoys a mostly natural snowmelt hydrograph. Its whitewater ranges from steep and committing class V to swift and splashy class II and III. Surrounded by vast public lands and designated wilderness, the Crystal contains unmatched recreation close to population centers on the western slope of Colorado. It is a place clearly deserving of preservation.
American Whitewater was proud to provide vast support to the steering committee over the past year and are encouraged by the relationships and agreements made through the process. As paddlers, we deeply understand the connection people build to rivers and how careful we must be in the human management of them. It takes intention, dedication, and care which this group of folks have embodied.