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Reservoir. If additional power generation releases are required over and above the tunnel demand, the <br />releases are counted against the United State's storage account in Blue Mesa. <br />Taylor Park/Blue Mesa Exchange Agreement <br />Before Blue Mesa Reservoir was constructed, the streamflow in the Gunnison and Taylor rivers below <br />Taylor Park Reservoir changed abruptly and fluctuated widely depending upon the availability of water <br />and calls for delivery of water by the UVWUA. This fluctuation in the streamflow was detrimental to <br />fishing and recreation on the Taylor and Gunnison Rivers. After the reservoir was constructed, the water <br />users in the Upper Gunnison negotiated with the United States and the UVWUA to use storage in Blue <br />Mesa to alleviate these impacts. As a result of several meetings, which included input from the Sierra <br />Club, the United States Forest Service, the USBR, the Division of Wildlife, and the National Park <br />Service, the Taylor Park Reservoir Operation and Storage Exchange Agreement was established in 1975. <br />The following summarizes the key goals and operating criteria of the 1975 agreement: <br />The overall purpose of the agreement was to authorize exchanges of water stored in Taylor Park <br />? <br />Reservoir and in the Aspinall Unit to promote conservation and better use and management of <br />available water supplies under the decreed water rights. <br /> <br />The agreement contemplated coordinated releases of water from Taylor Park Reservoir, with <br />? <br />regulation of the releases at the Aspinall reservoirs. The operating goal of Taylor Park <br />Reservoir releases is to stabilize the Taylor and Gunnison River flows throughout the year, to <br />provide flood control and irrigation uses, and to eliminate abrupt changes that would adversely <br />affect fisheries and recreation uses, as much as possible. <br /> <br />The agreement recognizes that the UVWUA physically controls the releases of water from <br />? <br />Taylor Park, but that the UVWUA releases stored water at the request of the United States or <br />the Upper Gunnison River District. Water released from Taylor Park is stored by the United <br />States in the Aspinall Units for the credit of the UVWUA. All credits created under this <br />agreement are canceled on October 31 of each year (this statement was stricken from an <br />amendment to the agreement in 1979 for the purpose of allowing "for a more normal operation <br />of Taylor Park Reservoir releases based upon the historical operations of the reservoir by the <br />UVWUA"). <br /> <br />When Taylor Park Reservoir spills and the United States has credits in the reservoir, then the <br />? <br />first water spilled is charged against the credits of the United States. UVWUA's credits in the <br />Aspinall reservoirs, when added to the UVWUA's wa ter stored in Taylor Park Reservoir, <br />cannot exceed the active capacity of Taylor Park (106,230 acre-feet). <br />Reference is made to the following agreements and decrees concerning the operation of the Taylor <br />Park/Blue Mesa Exchange Agreement: <br />August 21, 1972, contract agreement between the United States and the UVWUA. <br />? <br /> <br />August 28, 1975, contract agreement between the United States, the UVWUA, the Upper <br />? <br />Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, and the Colorado River Water Conservation <br />District. <br /> <br />April 16, 1990, contract agreement between the United States, the UVWUA, the Upper <br />? <br />5 <br />A275 01.09.95 1.15-21 Fosha, Hyre <br />