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<br />oa124~ <br /> <br />BLACK CANYON INFORMA nON PAPER <br /> <br />Oct. 2000 <br /> <br />the dams would provide river regulation, namely, . . . Blue Mesa Dam (Curecanti unit) . ., The <br />two additional dams would be built for power head only. One would be the Crystal Dam <br />(Crystal unit) which would benefit from river regulation provided by the upstream Curecanti <br />Reservoir. <br /> <br />At page 110, the Crystal Unit is described as Crystal Reservoir with a capacity of 40,000 acre <br />feet and its purpose to serve only to maintain a power head and to regulate the hourly and daily <br />releases from the Curecanti Reservoir, <br /> <br />Information on the Curecanti Unit is at page l11, which in this earlier report, sized the reservoir <br />at 2,500,000 acre-feet. <br /> <br />Flood-control storage requirements are mentioned in the report at page 153. It states that <br />generally the lower reaches of the main tributary streams are confined in deep and barren canyons <br />so floods cause no damage. However, the report states that reduction of peak flows of the <br />Gunnison River by the Curecanti unit would reduce flood damage in areas near Delta and Grand <br />Junction. Colorado. <br /> <br />Under the water rights category, the report at p. 155, states: Necessary water rights for the units <br />of the Colorado River storage project would be available to the United States. The use of water <br />and the operation of these various project units would be consistent with the Colorado River <br />compact, the Mexican Water Treaty, and the upper Colorado River Basin compact. <br /> <br />Water for the various participating irrigation projects would be appropriated in accordance with <br />the law of the State in which the point of diversion of water for each such project is located <br /> <br />Statements and programs of cooperating federal agencies were also included in the report <br />beginning at page 178. The National Park Service's statement begins at page 185: The Service <br />seeks to preserve and render available to the public outstanding scenic, scientific, historic, and <br />prehistoric areas of national impor~ance. The Service recognized that several areas of the <br />national park and monument system would be directly affected by certain water-control <br />possibilities being considered by the Bureau of Reclamation. .. At page 189: The adverse <br />effects certain reservoir units of the Colorado River storage project would have on areas of the <br />National Park System has been a matter of gravest concern to the Service.. . The Curecanti and <br />Crystal Reservoir units of the project would rE!gulate river flows through the Black Canyon of the <br />Gunnison National Monument. While such river regulation involves changes in natural <br />conditions that are held to be very undesirable, nevertheless it is recognized that the effects of <br />flow regulation would not be sufficiently adverse to override the economic advantage to be <br />gained thereby in the public interest. <br /> <br />On page 208, the Service continues its comments on effects of the proposed project on the <br />National Monument stating: The interests o/the National Park Service, however, will be <br />adversely affected in the monument by regulation of river flows. How completely river <br />regulation can be achieved by the Curecanti Reservoir is not, as yet known but it seems quite <br />probably that it will reach a high degree and /hat only in comparatively rare years of excessive <br />B-5 <br />