S10_11-15-04

• Basin: Statewide
• Title: SWSI Phase 1 Report - Section 10 Basin-Specific Options
• Date: 11/15/2004
• Author: CWCB
• SWSI - Doc Type: Final Report

Section 10
Basin-Specific Options
a pending RICD right that will limit future water
availability upstream of the right.
^ Agricultural and hydroelectric power calls and
reservoir operations significantly impact water
operations and supply availability in the upper
portions of the basin.
10.1.6.3 Gunnison Basin Summary of
Conditional Storage Rights
To portray the conditional storage rights present in the
Gunnison Basin, the area was described using water
districts as shown in Figure 10-13.
The seven water districts in the Gunnison Basin can also
be described using the main stream systems, which are
shown in Table 10-10.
Table 10-10 Gunnison Basin Water Districts and Associated
Stream Names
28 Tomichi Creek
40 North Fork Gunnison/Gunnis
41 Uncompahgre River
42 Gunnison River
59 Taylor/East/Gunnison Rivers
68 Uncompahgre River
Various water districts in the Gunnison Basin contain
conditional storage rights that date back to the early
1900s and extend to present day. As shown in
Table 10-11 there are over 2,000,000 AF of conditional
storage rights in the basin, which likely exceed available
supply. The numbers presented in this table describe the
total volume of conditional rights by priority time period
and not the number of individually decreed conditional
rights. These priority time periods are based on
adjudication dates and used solely for the purpose of
aggregating the numerous conditional rights into a table
for presentation. The number, rather than volume, of
conditional rights is presented in Appendix H.
Water District 59 in the Gunnison Basin has the largest
volume of conditional storage rights, comprising over
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1,600,000 AF of the 2,170,000 AF in the basin. This is
depicted in Table 10-11 and also presented graphically in
Appendix H.
Figure 10-14 focuses on the priority date of the
conditional storage rights. Over one-half of the
conditional storage rights in the Gunnison Basin have
priority dates between 1960 and 1980.
A map of the locations of the conditional storage rights in
the Gunnison Basin is shown in Figure 10-15. Different
colored circles are used to represent the total volume of
conditional rights that each location holds. These rights
are in locations scattered throughout the basin. This
figure also shows the locations of potential damsites in
the Gunnison Basin, as discussed in Section 10.1.6.4
below.
Conditional water rights could eventually be developed in
the Gunnison Basin as described in Section 7, resulting
in less available water for the rest of the basin.
10.1.6.4 Gunnison Basin Summary of Restricted
Reservoirs and Potential Storage Sites
Several restricted reservoirs exist in the Gunnison Basin
and are listed in Table 10-12. The total volume of
restricted storage in the basin is 3,604 AF and
rehabilitation of all of these reservoirs will not significantly
improve the availability of supply. Eighteen reservoirs in
Water District 40 and five in Water District 42 comprise
the majority of this total. In Water District 40, Barren, Big
Battlement, and Hotel Lake Dams have the largest
volumes lost, approximately 2,000 AF. Due to outlet
works failure, Grand Mesa #1 Dam in Water District 42
has 300 AF of lost storage.
Figure 10-16 shows the total storage lost to storage
restrictions in each water district.
Figure 10-15 shows the locations of potential damsites
as identified by the CWCB in the Gunnison Basin, along
with the conditional storage rights locations. Different
colored circles are used to represent the total volume of
conditional rights that each location holds. Potential
damsites are classified by total potential storage.
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