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20 <br />irrigation of about 75,000 acres.- Furthermore, prior to 1918, the <br />maximum amount of flow that was possible to divert through the Tunnel <br />was 900 cfs, according to Thompson (1962), a retired manager of the <br />U.V.W.U.A. Through a number of "betterment programs", the maximum flow <br />increased to about 990 cfs by 1943. In the mid-70's, the Association <br />maintained that 1,000 cfs is the maximum flow for the Tunnel, which <br />agrees with data in Anonymous (1961) and Powell (1917). Harris (1962) <br />listed a number of contracts between the Association and the United <br />States over the years; one of the most important was the construction, <br />of Taylor Park Reservoir, the storage reservoir for the Uncompahgre <br />Project. <br />It was recognized early in history that supplemental water storage <br />would probably be necessary for the Uncompahgre Project. Powell (1917), <br />the chief engineer for the Reclamation Service at that time, pointed <br />out that the Uncompahgre and Gunnison rivers are fed by melting snows <br />and begin to rise when the snow begins to melt in the spring, reaching <br />culmination sometime in June, and then declining irregularly until win- <br />ter. The maximum demand for irrigation is usually later than the maximum <br />flow of the streams, not declining so rapidly as the flows. He further <br />reported that the combined flow of both streams was usually sufficient <br />for the project, though sometimes there would be a slight shortage in <br />August or September, cautioning that if flows as low as what occurred <br />in 1902, a phenomenally dry year, should again occur, there would be a <br />shortage of over 40 percent. He continued that with this possibility <br />in view, studies had been made of a reservoir site on Taylor River, a <br />tributary of the Gunnison, having a drainage area above the reservoir <br />site of 253 sq mi. According to Powell, a proposed masonry dam at the