9367 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9367
• Author: Colorado Water Workshop.
• Title: Proceedings
• USFW Year: 1992.
• USFW - Doc Type: Colorado Water Workshop July 22-24, 1992.
• Copyright Material: NO

a great diversity of opinions within our community as to whether or
not the project should be built, and then how it should be built.
To better understand the diversity of views, let me take you back
thirty years. We had an economy that was largely based on
agricul ture. A certain degree of the economy was also based on
Western State College. I would consider tourism and recreation to be
in its infancy. The construction of Blue Mesa Reservoir covered up
half a dozen major ranches, and many smaller operations. It also
inundated several small family run recreational facilities. We had
major stretches of world class fishery on the Gunnison River that we
were renowned for. President Eisenhower was known to come here to
float and fish the Gunnison River from Gunnison on down to the head
of the Black Canyon. That basin was a big winter wildlife habitat
area for deer and elk. I can remember, in the late forties, seeing
the deer dying during those severe winters. It made an impact in my
mind. ate forties. We were also subject to some major water
administration issues. Before Blue Mesa Reservoir was constructed we
had to live with water administration. When the Gunnison River did
not produce enough water to satisfy the downstream senior users the
call came up the river. Particularly the agricultural users would
have to recognize the call. The division engineer and his
commissioners would be administering the river by the first of July.
All of a sudden one morning, the ditch would be off or significantly
reduced. With our short growing season, that usually happened about
half way through the growing season. All of a sudden we would find
ourselves without water, or without enough water to irrigate the
gravel bars that we try to produce hay on. The only option was to
begin haying. I can remember many, many times we had to drag out the
haying equipment around the tenth of July to get what we could. Then
we would sell cattle and buy hay to try and reach a balance that would
allow us to survive another year. We would then hope for a big winter
with lots of snow, providing plenty of water for the next summer so
that the call did not come up the river again.
That is where we were up until the mid-sixties. Then the
Aspinall Unit and Blue Mesa Reservoir were built. Suddenly we found
ourselves in a different world. We lost those ranches that were
inundated, but we gained the largest body of water in Colorado.
Suddenly we had many flat water recreational opportunities. The Park
Service developed many recreational amenities and recreational
activities, which I feel replaced the small family run operations.
We lost all that winter wildlife habitat, but somehow the elk
populations continue to increase. There were changes made to mitigate
that loss of habitat. For instance, a family ranch was bought and
turned over to the Division of Wildlife. Today that ranch is purely
wildlife habitat.
In many meetings and conferences, I have heard members of the.
environmental community talk about boondoggle water projects and how
detrimental they are to the environment. However, I would like to
give you an example of one that I am not so sure has been detrimental.
It is related to Blue Mesa Reservoir. There is a fish hatchery on
the East River called the Roaring Judy Hatchery, which was constructed
in the sixties around the same time that the Aspinall Unit was built.
Now that we had a fish hatchery and a large body of water in Blue
Mesa, it was decided that this would be a tremendous place for Cocanee

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