9584

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9584
• Author: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Title: Draft- Aspinall Unit Operations Study.
• USFW Year: 1988.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

Fork. This was compensated for by removing agricultural demands
on the Uncompahgre completely and removing most agricultural
demand on the lower Gunnison. An adjustment in the model will be
necessary if historic farming practices or acreages are changed.
ASPINALL OPERATING CRITERIA
General
The Unit was constructed and is operated under the authority of
House Document 346, 83d Congress 2d session. The Authorization
Act was passed on April 11, 1956, and provided for the
construction of the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) and it
participating projects. The Aspinall Unit is one of the four
units of CRSP and is operated to provide benefits to the public.
These benefits include hydroelectric power, municipal and
industrial water supply, recreation, flood control, and fish and
wildlife preservation.
The Unit helps provide water to satisfy the requirements of the
Colorado River Compact. This responsibility is also shared with
the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Navajo Reservoir, and Lake Powell.
Compact releases are made from Powell based upon the "Criteria for
Coordinated Long-Range Operation of Colorado River Reservoirs"
(Appendix C). Within these annual releases, monthly and daily
releases from each of the four CRSP reservoirs are scheduled to
meet contractual obligations to power customers, provided such
daily releases are sufficient to ensure minimum flows for
recreation and fish and wildlife.
Currently, the Unit is being maintained as full as possible to
ensure that Compact requirements can be met in the event of
drought conditions. Within this constraint, the Unit is primarily
operated for power, but as the Upper Basin states develop their
water resources, Compact releases will become the primary
operational criteria.
Month-to-Month Operation
The Bureau informs Western on a monthly basis as to the amount of
water in Blue Mesa Reservoir which can be released. Western then
schedules daily releases to maximize revenues and to balance load
on the transmission grid. In general, peak electrical demand is
spread across the summer air conditioning load and the winter
heating season. Peak summer months are June, July, and August
with winter peaks in January, February, and March. These general
demand patterns are refined on a yearly basis to reflect changes
in the general climate and runoff forecasts.
13