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CRDSS <br />TASK MEMORANDUM 1.15-25 <br />Water Rights Planning Model <br />Uncompahgre Project <br />1.0 ISSUE <br />This memorandum describes the operations of the Uncompahgre Project, which involves the irrigation of <br />approximately 86,000 acres between Montrose and Delta. The irrigation supplies are obtained from <br />direct flow rights from the Uncompahgre River; transbasin diversions from the Gunnison River via the <br />Gunnison Tunnel; storage in Taylor Park, Blue Mesa and Ridgway reservoirs; and several water <br />exchange agreements. The Project is operated by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association <br />(UVWUA), and much of the information summarized in this memorandum was obtained through <br />interviews with the UVWUA manager, as well as the Division Engineer and Water Commissioner. <br />2.0 DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS <br />General Description of the Uncompahgre Project <br />The Uncompahgre Project was one of the first major irrigation projects constructed by the U. S. Bureau <br />of Reclamation (USBR) under the Reclamation Act of 1902. The project was developed to provide <br />supplemental irrigation water supplies for approximately 86,000 acres of land in the Uncompahgre River <br />basin between Montrose and Delta. <br />The principal development of the Uncompahgre Project began in 1904 with the start of construction for <br />the Gunnison Tunnel which diverts water from the Gunnison River at a location just upstream of the <br />Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument for delivery to the Uncompahgre Valley (the tunnel <br />was completed in 1908 and the diversion dam was completed in 1912). Shortly thereafter, the UVWUA <br />and the USBR began acquisition of several of the larger main stem irrigation canals that had historically <br />been used for irrigation in the valley. The two organizations generally rehabilitated, enlarged, and <br />extended these canals for project purposes. These canal structures and the associated senior direct flow <br />water rights are summarized in Table 1. Two new canal structures were also constructed. The South <br />Canal delivers water from the west portal of the Gunnison Tunnel to the Uncompahgre River upstream of <br />the point where it can be rediverted by the main stem project canals. The West Canal takes water from <br />the South Canal and delivers it to some project lands situated on the west side of the river above the <br />Montrose and Delta Canal. In the early years of the project, the UVWUA also acquired a number of <br />existing senior direct flow rights from several independent ditch systems and transferred the rights to the <br />new project canals, which were being rehabilitated to serve both the historic and proposed project lands. <br />The operation and maintenance of the project was turned over to the UVWUA in 1932. Ownership of <br />the project remains with the United States. <br />The final major component of the project, Taylor Park Reservoir, was constructed in the upper reaches of <br />the Gunnison River in 1937 and is used to provide additional late-season irrigation supplies to the <br />project. Operation of Taylor Park Reservoir is discussed in Task Memorandum 1.15-21. The following <br />general description of the Uncompahgre Project is an excerpt from the USBR Project Data Book: <br />1 <br />A275 01.09.95 1.15-25 Fosha, Hyre <br />