Crested Butte, Colorado, June 22, 2010 – The Breem Ditch project, an innovative instream flow project, closed yesterday. The project will add much-needed streamflow to sections of Washington Gulch and the Slate River near the Town of Crested Butte. The collaborative project—consisting of Skyland Metropolitan District; Verzuh Ranch, Inc., a local development company owned by Billy Joe Lacy and Dan Dow; the Colorado Water Conservation Board (“CWCB”); and the Colorado Water Trust (“CWT”)—will mean more water for local rivers and Gunnison County residents. The purchase was structured so that Skyland Metropolitan District acquired the water right from Verzuh Ranch, Inc. and then sold a conservation use, the instream flow use, to the CWCB. The closing and transfer of the water right means that the next and final step will be the water court approval process.
Due to irrigation diversions into the Breem Ditch, and despite sometimes water-plentiful summers, the Gulch would run completely dry by the middle of July. The Slate River also would run quite low. The transaction will allow Washington Gulch to flow year-round, even during dry summers, and will help fix flow shortages to the Slate River. This means that the local trail system between the town of Crested Butte and the town of Mt. Crested Butte will travel along flowing water year-round and a section of the Slate River that runs through some of Crested Butte’s Open Space land, which includes public fishing access, will see a good boost in streamflow during the summer months as well.
The transaction was initially put together by CWT, a statewide nonprofit that works to improve the state’s streamflows through voluntary, market-based transactions. “The project includes diverse parties who figured out that we shared a common goal of putting water back in local streams while also helping serve local municipal needs,” said Amy Beatie, Executive Director of the CWT. After use in the river, the water will be used in Skyland Metropolitan District’s system, which from 2002 to 2004—Colorado’s most severe recent drought period—was extremely low on water. “Had Skyland and Dan Dow and Bill Lacy not welcomed the Water Trust to the table to explore creative possibilities, and had Skyland not been willing to coordinate the development of its water supply with CWT, this project would never have gotten off the ground. It was quite an experience watching the parties put on creative hats to find a good solution, and it’s even more exciting now that it’s closer than ever to completion,” said Beatie.
The project’s success stemmed from its market-based, collaborative nature. “We are glad to have been part of a creative solution that resulted in a win-win outcome for both water users and instream flows,” said Mr. Lacy.
The instream flow component of the transaction was paid for in part with funds from the CWCB authorized in 2008 for instream flow water acquisitions and in part by CWT, with contributions from the Colorado Conservation Trust, a statewide group dedicated to increasing the pace and quality of private conservation in our state, and other sources.