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supplemental irrigation water to the Fruitland Mesa area by constructing a 51,000 acre-foot storage <br />reservoir on Soap Creek, a tributary of the Gunnison River at Blue Mesa Reservoir. The new reservoir <br />would be used in conjunction with a system of transbasin canals and tunnels to deliver the water to <br />Crystal Creek. The FMWCD acquired and still maintains conditional decrees for the Soap Park <br />Reservoir (87,000 acre-feet), the Crystal Creek Tunnel (330 cfs) and the Soap Park Bench Flume (300 <br />cfs). Future operation of these conditional water rights is not included in the CRDSS Water Rights <br />Planning Model prototype. <br />Historic Operation of the Fruitland Mesa Area Water Rights <br />Irrigation in the Fruitland Mesa area generally begins around the first of May. If, at that time, there is <br />insufficient water available from Crystal Creek, the FIC may make a nominal release of storage water <br />from Gould Reservoir. As the runoff starts to increase in late May and early June, there is generally <br />streamflow in excess of the senior direct demands of the Cattlemens Ditch (50 cfs), the Dyers Fork Ditch <br />(13.25 cfs), the Crystal Valley Irrigation Ditch (13.35 cfs), and the direct irrigation demand of the FIC <br />(estimated by Mugsford to be approximately 120 cfs). In this situation, the FIC will attempt to fill Gould <br />Reservoir using any unused portion of the ditch capacity of the Highline Ditch by diverting from Crystal <br />Creek. Accordingly, there would need to be nearly 200 cfs of flow in Crystal Creek before diversions to <br />storage in Gould Reservoir could occur (unless a portion of the senior rights are not calling for water). <br />In mid-June, the flow of Crystal Creek begins to decrease to rates ranging from 115 to 125 cfs, and it <br />becomes difficult to maintain sufficient head in the FIC system for delivery to all of its shareholders. At <br />this time, the FIC would typically be diverting less than one-half of its demand from Crystal Creek <br />because of the demands of the other senior water rights. From an operational standpoint, this rate of flow <br />(60 cfs±) is inadequate to operate the Highline Ditch for irrigation deliveries. Therefore, the FIC <br />modifies its operation to deliver all of the available transbasin diversion from Crystal Creek to Gould <br />Reservoir, where it is bypassed through to the Lowline Ditch for delivery, supplemented with storage <br />water as necessary. The storage in Gould Reservoir is generally emptied by the first of August, at which <br />time there is only minimal water available in Crystal Creek. This time frame coincides with the second <br />cutting of the alfalfa hay crop. There is very little irrigation after the middle of August. <br />Operation of Fruitland Mesa Rights in the CRDSS Program MODSIM <br />The following discussion describes the key assumptions used in the CRDSS wate r rights planning model <br />(MODSIM) to simulate the operations of the principal water rights in the Fruitland Mesa area. To the <br />extent possible, basic input data obtained from the Gunnison River planning model (GUNMOD) was <br />used, except as noted below. <br />For the CRDSS, the MODSIM model has been structured to individually operate the following <br />? <br />agricultural demands: <br /> <br />(a)The Cattlemens Ditch, assuming irrigation of approximately 2,965 acres <br /> <br />(b)The Dyers Fork Ditch (650 acres) <br /> <br />(c)The Fruitland Canal (8,140 acres) <br /> <br /> <br />These acreages were confirmed using topographic maps and the irrigated acreage maps <br /> <br />developed by the CRDSS Consumptive Use Group. The acreage values are reasonably <br />consistent with the estimates obtained through the interviews with Mr. Mugsford. Note that the <br />acreage under the Fruitland system includes an allowance for some additional lands high in the <br />3 <br />A275 01.09.95 1.15-22 Fosha, Hyre <br />