Headwaters Spring 2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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DBYBI'luolel I Wj Ei By Erin McIntyre in rJ i1lJ Yl I ji") 11u" 3.WD4J1J JiB-VJfB1JJhVJJ 1"Jill-A� To most people driving on U.S. Highway 50 west of Gunnison, the stretch of water just west of town near the Twin Bridges is just another fast - moving section of the Gunnison River. Even a trained eye might have a hard time telling that beneath the water's surface are hundreds of boulders strategically placed to make a whitewater park. On spring and summer afternoons, tourists might observe brightly col- ored kayaks bobbing in and out of the waves, and applaud Gunnison for its recreation - friendly community. What is not apparent to casual observers are the hours invested in legal wrangling and community dialogue that went into building the park and obtaining the water right necessary to give this park a priority over some of the other future water uses in the valley. Outside of the courtroom and beyond the water board meetings, the results of this hard - fought battle beg the question: How does the Gunnison community feel about its new recreational hotspot? y the time the park was built, most of the community was in favor of the project, says George Sibley, a professor at Western State College and organizer of the annual Gunnison Water Workshoom Sibley says many locals support- ed the whitewater park because they thought gaining a water right for the park assured that the water could not be diverted to the Front Range. In the past, water developers have eyed the Gunnison River basin for projects such as Union Park, a proposed 1.2 million acre - foot reservoir. Although Union Park's proponents lost a Colorado Supreme Court battle in 1998, when the court declared there was not enough water for the project, many locals still fear losing water to transmountain diversions. "Frankly, that was a major reason for getting local support for it," says Sibley. "It assures the water will have to be in the river at least for that far." But not everyone in Gunnison agrees. Rikki Santarelli, former Gunnison County attorney and commissioner, was on the commission when the county decided to build the park on its own land, and sup - rt. Now Santarelli feels that the park's water rights may actually hurt the valley in the long run by hindering resi- dential and other development upstream. He says if Front Range communities want water from the Gunnison Basin, a kayak park won't stop them because they have more political clout and money than the small mountain town. What the kayak park hinders, says Santarelli, is development in the Gunnison Valley that could benefit the community. "(The whitewater park) is kind of at the bottom of the valley," says Santarelli, who has some clients who are develop- ers. "So, everybody who wants to make any change in the water right above that kayak park has to come up with a way to augment the stream. Under Colorado law, junior water right holders are allowed to use water out of priority, but they must replace, or augment, what was used with the same quantity and suitable quality of water. A augmentation plan identifies how, wh