Laserfiche WebLink
<br />'... <br /> <br />ODJ7J8 <br /> <br />Crystal Reservoir. Recreational use at the upper end of Crystal Reservoir is primarily limited to <br />the spring through fall. <br /> <br />NPS also operates a tour boat at Morrow Point Reservoir by concession. The tour boat is <br />launched and picks up passengers at the upper end of Morrow Point Reservoir and provides a 1-2 <br />hour tour. The boat operates typically from Memorial Day to Labor Day and requires a reservoir <br />water surface elevation of 7.152 ft. for the boat tour to put in and take out. Because of recent <br />events including the September ll'h terrorist attacks. the Morrow Point Boat Tour has been <br />suspended in 2002, If the trash rack cleaning is complered in 2002. the boat tour will not be <br />affected, However. if the cleaning is scheduled in another year and the boat tour is resumed. a <br />water surface lower than 7.152 ft. before September 1st would shorten the boat tour season. <br /> <br />The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (Park) is located downstream of the East <br />Portal of the Gunnison Tunnel and is managed by the National Park Service, The Park was <br />established to preserve the spectacular gorge and other scenic. scientilic. and educational <br />interests, The Park. includes [4 miles of the Gunnison River. <br /> <br />An additional 26 miles of the Gunnison River downstream of the National Park. are managed by <br />the BLM, The river tlows through the BLM's 57.700-acre Gunnison Gorge Nationai <br />Conservation Area (NCA) and Wilderness, BLM manages the NCA and Wilderness to <br />permanently protect and conserve its outstanding scenic. geologic. wildlife and wilderness <br />resources and to provide a diverse range of recreational opportunities including wilderness <br />whitewater boating and camping. tloat-lishing. walk-wade tishing. hiking. and sightseeing, <br /> <br />The Colorado Division of Wildlife manages rccreationai lishing on the Gunnison River. <br />Recreational tishing is discussed in greater dctail in the Wildlife Section of thiS Chapter. <br /> <br />The No Action Alternative would not affect current use of recreational resources. In future years <br />without the trash rack cleaning, tlows may become more reduced by additional trash build-up. <br />thus potentially affecting downstream recreation. The Proposed Action could negatively affect <br />recreational uses if the Gunnison River becomes cloudy (turbid). If the waters are turbid. fishing <br />success may be reduced and the river may become dimcult to navigate by boat. thus reducing the <br />quality of the recreational experience, For example. during the Crystal trash rack cleaning and <br />draw down. private and commercial recreation use was almost non-existent. In addition. access <br />to Morrow Point Reservoir would likely be closed to the public from September 3rd to October <br />1" for public safety and resource protection. <br /> <br />Water quality is discussed in greater detail in the Water Resources section of this chapter. <br /> <br />Land Use and Vegelation <br /> <br />The project area is located on lands of the United States withdrawn by Reclamation for the <br />construction and operation of the Aspinall Unit. The lands are co-managed by Reclamation and <br />the NPS. <br /> <br />10 <br />