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down to approximately 581,000 acre-feet by January 1 of each year, and then to fill the <br />reservoir by the end of July. Power demands generally control the release and fill <br />patterns in the Aspinall Unit reservoirs. Typically, the schedule for increasing and <br />decreasing release rates is linear, increasing in increments of 50 cfs/day for releases less <br />than 2,000 cfs, and in increments of 250 cfs for releases greater than 2,000 cfs. <br />During the storage period when inflows to Blue Mesa are greater than the releases, <br />including the bypass of inflow to the downstream Gunnison Tunnel, water can be stored <br />pursuant to the Blue Mesa decrees. If, at this time, releases (such as for power <br />generation) are greater than the Gunnison Tunnel demand that is being bypassed through <br />the reservoirs, the releases that are in excess of the Gunnison Tunnel demand are counted <br />against the United States' first fill decree in Blue Mesa Reservoir. When inflows to Blue <br />Mesa decrease to the point that the inflow is less than the Gunnison Tunnel demand <br />(1,135 cfs), additional releases to the tunnel are made from the UVWUA's exchange <br />credit account in Blue Mesa Reservoir. If additional power generation releases are <br />required over and above the tunnel demand, the releases are counted against the United <br />States' storage account in Blue Mesa. <br />2.4.5. Taylor Park/Blue Mesa Exchange Agreement <br />Before Blue Mesa Reservoir was constructed, the streamflow in the Gunnison and Taylor <br />Rivers below Taylor Park Reservoir changed abruptly and fluctuated widely depending <br />upon the availability of water and calls for delivery of water by the UVWUA. This <br />fluctuation in the streamflow was detrimental to fishing and recreation on the Taylor and <br />Gunnison Rivers. After the reservoir was constructed, the water users in the Upper <br />Gunnison negotiated with the United States and the UVWUA to use storage in Blue Mesa <br />to alleviate these impacts. As a result of several meetings, which included input from the <br />Sierra Club, the United States Forest Service, the USBR, the Division of Wildlife, and the <br />National Park Service, the Taylor Park Reservoir Operation and Storage Exchange <br />Agreement was established in 1975. The following summarizes the key goals and <br />operating criteria of the 1975 agreement: <br />• The overall purpose of the agreement was to authorize exchanges of water stored in <br />Taylor Park Reservoir and in the Aspinall Unit to promote conservation and better <br />use and management of available water supplies under the decreed water rights. <br />The agreement contemplated coordinated releases of water from Taylor Park <br />Reservoir, with regulation of the releases at the Aspinall reservoirs. The operating <br />goal of Taylor Park Reservoir releases is to stabilize the Taylor and Gunnison River <br />flows throughout the year, to provide flood control and irrigation uses, and to <br />eliminate abrupt changes that would adversely affect fisheries and recreation uses, as <br />much as possible. <br />• The agreement recognizes that the UVWUA physically controls the releases of water <br />from Taylor Park, but that the UVWUA releases stored water at the request of the <br />United States or the Upper Gunnison River District. Water released from Taylor Park <br />is stored by the United States in the Aspinall Units for the credit of the UVWUA. All <br />Gunnison River Basin Information 2-13 <br />