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<br />... <br /> <br />OOiJ7J5 <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />Gunnison River would be established and the work might be temporarily stopped if <br />turbidity readings exceed desired conditions. <br /> <br />Aspinall Operations <br /> <br />Releases from the Aspinall Unit and flows below the Gunnison Tunnel would be unaffected by <br />the project. Releases from Blue Mesa Dam during the draw down would be reduced to facilitate <br />the draw down and gradually increased during the refill. Blue Mesa and Morrow Point Dam <br />releases would be adjusted by Reclamation as needcd to control Morrow Point Reservoir's <br />elevation at or near 7.129 ft. and protect downstream water quality. During the draw down. Blue <br />Mesa releases could be made as peaking releases or uniform releases. The uniform releases <br />would reduce the potential for suspended sediment in the water. Reclamation proposes to use <br />peak releases. with a commitment to change to uniform releases if turbidity increases <br />downstream, Gunnison Tunnel diversions will also nO( be affected, <br /> <br />Other Alternatives Eliminated for Detailed Analysis <br /> <br />Other alterna[ives considcred but eliminatcd from dctailed analysis included: <br /> <br />I. Using divers to clean the trash rack without ;. reservoir draw down, This alternative was <br />not considered feasible because of the reduced diver's bOllom time (time actually <br />cleaning the trash racks), Under the proposed plan. divers would be working in 30 fcet of <br />water. compared [060 feet of water without the rescrvoir draw down, <br /> <br />2. Draw down of Morrow Point Reservoir to elevation 7, 100 ft. and using divers or crane [0 <br />clean the trash rack, This alternative was originally proposed but has been eliminated <br />because of landslide issues and the cost of monitoring landslide movement. Potential <br />impacts to downstream resources would also increase with additional exposed sediments as a <br />result of the additional reservoir draw down, <br /> <br />3, Timing of Reservoir Draw Down. Alternate times of year for implementing the trash rack <br />cleaning project were considered but found not feasible. A reservoir drawn down in the <br />spring was considered not feasible because it could trigger landslide movements with <br />saturated soils, A winter reservoir draw down was also considered not feasible because of <br />potential trash rack icing problems and inclement weather. <br /> <br />7 <br />