By Michael Gorman, Lea Linse and Hattie Johnson
The upper Crystal River is one of the last “free-flowing” rivers in the state of Colorado — unrestrained and connected to its headwaters, without dams or out-of-basin diversions.
As with all water issues in the West, it’s easy to find conflict, but communities along the Crystal River all agree the river’s free-flowing condition is unique and something worth protecting for the future. That’s why the stakeholder group known as the Crystal River Wild and Scenic and Other Alternatives Feasibility Collaborative Steering Committee has been working over the past year and a half to find durable protections for the Crystal River, so the river can remain wild and free. With an ongoing drought and climate change impacts escalating, demand for the Crystal’s water will only increase.
Last fall, there was a series of public presentations on the various methods available to protect the Crystal. One of those methods was a Wild and Scenic designation, which protects a river’s free-flowing condition and “outstandingly remarkable values.” Our community has been discussing a Wild and Scenic designation for over 40 years and now we’re taking this opportunity to sit down together, regardless of opinion on Wild and Scenic, to hash out how to develop a proposal that could best incorporate our shared values.
The public heard from experts about how a Wild and Scenic designation works as a tool to safeguard those values. We also learned how a Wild and Scenic designation can be adapted to fit a community’s specific needs, and so we spent time gathering input to identify what those needs look like for our community. We agreed that these needs ought to be addressed for any approach to move forward. In March, the Steering Committee reached consensus on a recommendation to form subcommittees on options that have generated community interest and each will take a deeper dive into possible interim or alternative protection tools, specifically an in-stream flow right, Wild and Scenic designation or local government agreement.
As part of this ongoing second phase, the Wild and Scenic Subcommittee is researching how a Wild and Scenic proposal could be specifically tailored for the Crystal River. Each month our subcommittee looks closely at a value or topic we’ve identified through public input and determines how it could be incorporated in a proposal. We are looking at examples from other Wild and Scenic bills, and speaking with Forest Service staff and other experts with experience who can provide perspective and interpretation of policy and legislation. Our goal is to develop a draft Wild and Scenic proposal that would protect the Crystal River while making every attempt to address the group’s questions, values and any additional reservations identified along the way. We intend to bring this proposal back to the larger Collaborative and the broader community for discussion. While we’d all like answers sooner than later, this collaborative process is complex and we are moving at the speed of trust.
Our subcommittee is made up of Steering Committee members from up and down the Valley with different backgrounds, political leanings and opinions on the best ways to protect the river, but we are connected by our shared values and appreciation for the Crystal. The dedicated members of this group have volunteered countless hours of their time and sat down with each other over hundreds of slices of pizza to work on a vision for a future where the Crystal River remains free flowing. For many in the room, this effort comes on the heels of previous decades of involvement, and as co-chairs we often reflect on our gratitude for the commitment and expertise embodied in this group and the willingness to listen to others’ opinions.
Hattie Johnson, Lea Linse and Michael Gorman are co-chairs of the Wild and Scenic Subcommittee which generally meets every fourth Thursday of the month at 5pm at the Third Street Center in Carbondale. Community members are welcome to listen in on these meetings in-person or on zoom. For questions, more information or to provide input, email michael@wildernessworkshop.org and visit www.thecrystalvalleyecho.com/wild-scenic-stakeholder