Colorado Parks and Wildlife will hold a public meeting at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, September 24, at the Lake Pueblo State Park Visitor Center in Pueblo to discuss a proposal to adjust water temperature standards for the Arkansas River below the Lake Pueblo dam.

The one-hour presentation will cover the history of current temperature standards and the agency's reasons for seeking changes. A question-and-answer period will follow. The meeting is also available via Zoom at https://cpw-state-co.zoom.us/j/89365058585?pwd=Htqi8ilU55OYOnIOacdMPjHmhC90Ah.1

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"CPW is seeking to adjust temperature standards to match existing conditions for the Arkansas River from the dam to its confluence with Wildhorse/Dry Creek Arroyo, about five miles east," said Mindi May, CPW's water quality program coordinator. "Pueblo Reservoir naturally influences water temperatures in this stretch of the river. The proposed standards would better reflect the temperatures that currently occur downstream of the reservoir while continuing to protect the existing cold water fishery."

CPW notes the proposal is not related to the historic drought and low flows on the Arkansas River this year. It follows a 2023 meeting at which temperature standards were first revised.

The affected river section includes the Pueblo State Fish Hatchery, built in 1986 as a joint venture between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and CPW's predecessor agency, the Division of Wildlife. The 80-acre facility is one of 19 hatcheries CPW operates statewide, raising 90 million fish per year. It is the only CPW hatchery that rears both cold- and warm-water species, and its operations are directly affected by the temperature standards.

"That section of river has been sufficiently cooled by the creation of the Lake Pueblo dam and supports a cold water fishery in the tailwater below the dam that CPW maintains by stocking trout rather than natural reproduction," May said. CPW has determined the river cannot meet default temperature standards from July through December — standards that are included in the hatchery's water discharge permit, which the hatchery will be unable to meet.

CPW proposes to retain existing temperature standards for January through June and adjust standards for July through December to reflect slightly warmer river water temperatures during those months. The temperature proposal will be based on a model that removes the small thermal impact of the hatchery.