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001633 " Public Seeping Comments, Gunnison River Contract, conI. .,,-, , ..,. ,. . ~;',.'.: ,;,~ ...::;} 3b. GREEN.o+; p3,~3. Issue A Monument Reserved Water Ri.ht- The relationship between the= proposed contract and adjudication of the Monument's reserved water right must be made clear and ' water deliveries under the contract must fulfill the terms of the reserved water righl. The Colorado Water Conservation Board wants the contract to serve as a vehicle for "resolution of the Monument reserved water right claims filed by the NPS in court" (Public Information Packet, April 1992). IF the contract is intended as an alternative to adj~dication (possibly through a consent decree), then the negotiating agencies need to give especially careful considera~ion to the requirements of the reserved water right. 3b. GREEN.o+; p3, ~4. (Issue A. Monument Reserved Water Right, cont) The purposes of the reserved right are not limited to those identified in the 1933 national monument proclamation or those identified in the 1933 nati~nal monument proclamation or those identified in the Antiquities Act. niey also include the 'fundamental purpose' of national parks and monuments stated in the National Park System .organize Act: p3,~5 ... to conserve the scenery'and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. (39 Stal. 535) 3h. GREEN.o+; p4, ~I. (Issue A. Monument Reserved Water Right, cont) The purposes (of the reserved right) stated in the proclamation are similarly expansive: "for the preservation of the spectacular gorges and additional features of scenic, scientific, and educational interest' (47 Stat. 2558). (;f~i) 3b. GREEN.o+; p4,~2. (Issue A. Monument Reserved Water Right, cont) Satisfaction of the OrgaD..ic Act and proclamation purposes requires more than a "~um flow." The M~numeDt reserved water right can only be satisfied by variable flows: high base flows and large peak discharges in spring and summer and low base flows in late fall and winter with a range of conditions over dry, average, and wet years. Fulfillment of these requirements requires changes in release schedules from the Aspinall Unit and prevention of substantial new upstream diversions or depletions. 3b. GREENO+; p4,~3. (Issue A. Monument Reserved Water Right, cont) The proposed contract offers an opportunity'to protect and satisfy the Monument reserved right. but it cail,do so only if tbe contract is written with enough specificity and guarantees to protect the total volume of water available to the Monument and to assure that release schedules and flow regimes will niaintain and enhance Monument values. '3a. GREEN.o+; p4,~4. Issue B Wilderness Reserved Water Ri.ht- The 1933 reserved right for Monument purposes is reinforced and complemented by a 1976 reserved right for wilderness purposes. Congress designated most of the Monument (including the length of the Gunnison River through the Monument) as a wilderness area under the terms of the Wilderness Act in 1976. Wilderness Act purposes include preservation of naturalness, solitude, and opportunities for primitive recreation as well as scientific, scenic, and other supplemental values. Satisfaction of the wilderness reserved water precludes any post-1976 water applications (e.g., AB Lateral) that would divert substantial quantities of water upstream from the Monument or that would impair high spring/summer and low winter/fall flow regimes, 5. GREEN.o+; p4,~5. In order to protect tbe Monument and Wilderness reserved water rights the Colorado Water Conservation Board should oppose applications for substantial new diversions or 55