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<br />upon Mr. Johnston's testimony and certain exhibits, the Court makes <br />the following findings and conclusions:' <br /> <br />a. The Bureau of Reclamation does not release water from <br />the CRSP units solely for the purpose of hydropower generation <br />nor does the Bureau of Reclamation release water from the CRSP <br />reservoirs for any single purpose. The releases serve <br />multiple purposes. It is clear that the Aspinall unit has <br />decreed water rights for the purposes of domestic, municipal, <br />irrigation, stock watering, industrial, hydropower, flood <br />control, piscatorial, wildlife protection and recreational <br />purposes. (Exhibit 1105, Tabs 4 and 87.) There are times <br />when releases are' made from the Aspinall reservoirs in <br />quantities exceeding the amount required by senior downstream <br />users. But said releases often satisfy other purposes of the <br />Aspinall unit: flood control, minimize ice jams, protect the <br />Dolores and Dallas Creek reservoirs from calls otherwise <br />required for the benefit of endangered fishes, regulation of <br />river flow, as well as for wildlife, fish and recreational <br />purposes (recognized under the 1968 Act as primary purposes), <br />and hydroelectric power generation. These purposes are <br />recognized in absolute decrees issued by this court, and the <br />Court hereby recognizes them as senior rights entitled to call <br />for water which the Applicant would otherwise utilize to <br />supply its project. <br /> <br />b. The Bureau construes 43 U.S.C. S620(f) as not impeding <br />a call of the River for the direct flow and storage power <br />rights of the Aspinall Unit. No call has been made on the <br />Gunnison River for the Aspinall unit in prior years, because <br />the authorized purposes of the Unit were never in jeopardy. <br />The Bureau now takes the position that power generation is not <br />an incidental purpose but rather it is equal to other primary <br />purposes. In the future, the Bureau intends to make calls on <br />the River for its direct flow rights and its storage rights. <br />The Court accepts this position, except to the extent that the <br />plain meaning of the exception for "domestic and agricultural <br />purposes" as stated in 43 U.S.C. S620(f) mandates otherwise. <br /> <br />c. The Court recognizes that Mr. Johnston's testimony was <br />at variance with deposition testimony by Wayne Cook, who at <br />the time of trial was retired from his position as Regional <br />Supervisor in the Water and Land Resources Division of the <br />Bureau of Reclamation. However, Mr. Johnston testified that <br />after the taking of Mr. Cook's deposition, meetings were held <br />which included the Bureau's Regional Director, the Regional. <br />Solicitor and the Department of Justice as well as Johnston. <br />These meetings were held for the precise purpose of resolving <br />the official position of the Bureau with respect to the use of <br />direct flow rights and storage rights under the CRSP general- <br />ly, and with respect to the Aspinall Unit specifically, and <br />the applicability of 43 U.S.C. S620(f) vis-a-vis the Aspinall <br />Unit. His testimony, as outlined above, was based upon said <br />meetings, and therefore, the Court accepts Mr. Johnston's <br /> <br />31 <br />