DOW AND THE CITY OF WRAY EXPLORE AN AGREEMENT ON HATCHERY

The Colorado Division of Wildlife announced today it is exploring an agreement to obtain water from a well owned by the City of Wray, located north of the city, to supplement surface flows used by the Wray Hatchery.  Both the City of Wray and the Division of Wildlife are reviewing a draft agreement that would allow the DOW to use excess water from the City subject to a variety of conditions.
 
  Wray retains exclusive use of this water if needed for emergencies.  The Division of Wildlife needs the water because flows in Chief Creek and Francis Springs, which supply the hatchery, have diminished over time.
 
  Kris Jones, Mayor of the City of Wray, confirmed the city’s interest "in working cooperatively with DOW to provide supplemental water to the Wray Hatchery if doing so would not adversely impact the quality or quantity of the water used by the City of Wray and if the Division of Wildlife withdraws from the Pioneer litigation."
 
   Tom Burke, Chairman of the Wildlife Commission which is the appointed board that oversees the Division of Wildlife, praised the City of Wray for proposing this solution.
 
    “The Wildlife Commission was definitely interested in finding a way to resolve the problem of declining flows to the Wray Hatchery without harming the economy of the area and the City may have found it,” said Burke.
 
   Claire O’Neal, a Wildlife Commissioner from Holyoke added, “It’s great that a local solution is emerging to help resolve very contentious issues within the North Fork of the Republican River.” 
 
    An additional pipeline will have to be constructed to get the water to the Wray Hatchery. 
 
   “We are trying to get a handle on what that pipeline would cost to construct and operate, and doing some other technical assessments to make sure this meets our needs,” said Tom Remington, the director of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. “We’re hopeful we can reach an agreement with Wray, but significant challenges will remain to find funding to get this accomplished.  If we can jump those hurdles, the DOW would be able to withdraw from the Pioneer litigation pending before the Colorado Groundwater Commission.” 
 
    The Wray Hatchery produced about thirty-five percent of five warm-water fish species stocked by the Division in 2006.  These fish were released into 113 bodies of water in 33 Colorado counties.  The hatchery produces as many as 10 species of cool and warm-water sport fish including an average of 16 million walleye.  It is also the primary source of crappie, bluegill and smallmouth bass stocked by the Division.
 
  Based on a 2004 estimate, anglers contributed more than $25 million a year to Colorado’s economy pursuing these warm-water fish.