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perpetual right to use 12,650 acre-feet of Paonia Project storage water and any additional water that may <br />be available from year to year. <br />According to Ken Knox, the Division Engineer for Water Division 4, an account of 1,500 acre-feet of <br />storage water is reserved for endangered species. Releases from the endangered species account are not <br />shepherded downstream to specific locations and are subjective as to when they occur (generally during <br />the spring runoff). The water supply for the endangered species account comes from the capacity of the <br />sediment pool of Paonia Reservoir. <br />Fire Mountain Canal diverts water from the North Fork of the Gunnison River near Somerset and <br />extends approximately 35 miles along the north side of the valley. It has an initial capacity of 180 cubic <br />feet per second (cfs) that is reduced to 100 cfs at the Leroux Creek crossing. Table 4 summarizes the <br />water rights for the Fire Mountain Canal on the North Fork of the Gunnison River (Fire Mountain Canal <br />has water rights on tributaries of the North Fork that are not summarized in this table). <br />TABLE 4 <br />FIRE MOUNTAIN CANAL WATER RIGHTS <br />DECREED AMOUNT <br />STRUCTURESTRUCTURE APPROPRIATIONADMINISTRATION (cfs) <br />NAMENAMEDATENUMBER <br />ABSOLUTECONDITIONAL <br />Fire Mountain 11339/14/189619415.1750950.0 <br />Canal <br />6/01/190621701.0000044.5 <br />6/24/191425807.2355030.0 <br />6/01/193531924.31197106.0 <br />Ragged Mountain Exchange <br />Pursuant to the contract dated August 6, 1991, between the United States, the District, and the Ragged <br />Mountain Water Users' Association (Association), the Association obtained the right, commencing June <br />1, 1991, to divert up to 2,000 acre-feet of Paonia Project storage water annually. At the end of 5 years, <br />the contract may be renewed for an additional 5 years. <br />Under the contract agreement, the Association may divert a maximum of 2,000 acre-feet annually at its <br />various head gates upstream of Paonia Reservoir. The District, as required by the Division Engineer, <br />will make releases from the reservoir to satisfy downstream senior water rights. The exchange water can <br />only be used by the Association for supplemental irrigation of 2,368 acres of land. <br />The water supply for the Ragged Mountain Exchange comes primarily from the capacity of the sediment <br />pool of Paonia Reservoir. The United States may terminate the contract agreement if it is found that the <br />sediment pool would fill at an earlier projected date. It has been projected that the sediment pool would <br />fill by the year 2053. <br />3 <br />A275 01.09.95 1.15-23 Fosha, Hyre <br />