PUB00004

• Year: 2003
• Title: Gunnison Basin Water: No Panacea for the Front Range
• CWCB Section: Administration
• Author: Land and Water Fund
• Description: Gunnison Basin Water: No Panacea for the Front Range
• Publications - Doc Type: Other

The Gunnison: A Basin In Balance

· Facilities:

. Year:

. Location:

· Water Use:

. Facilities:

· Year:

. Location:
· Water Use:

CD

Uncompahgre Project
Gunnison Diversion Dam and Gunnison Tunnel
Completed 1 909
35 miles west of Gunnison, just below Crystal Dam
Average diversion 365,000 AF

Taylor Pork Reservoir
Completed 1 937
25 miles northeast of Almont, on the Taylor River
Average releases 154,000 AF

The UVWUA operates these facilities to divert water into the Gunnison Tunnel
for delivery to farmers and ranchers in Ouray, Delta, and Montrose counties, where it
is used as a supplemental supply for irrigation of about 76,000 acres of land. n The
UVWUA and others hold conditional water rights that, if developed, will increase the
flow of water through the Thnnel. They are described in Chapter 2.

The second component of the Uncompahgre Project, Taylor Park Reservoir,
was constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation on the Taylor River west of
Cottonwood ~ss to provide a supplemental supply of water for the Gunnison Thnnel
and the UVWUA. It is now operated not only for irrigation but also for flatwater
recreation and for the release of water 10 "enhance the fishery and recreational uses
of the Taylor and Gunnison Rivers above Blue Mesa Reservoir.""

The initial storage water righl for Taylor Park, for the reservoir's "first fill," was
decreed in 1941 for 111,260 AF with a priority date of December 18,1933, for irriga-
tion and other purposes. In 1986, the 1904 decree was modified to eliminate non-irri-
gation uses, except for a minimal hydroelectric right. The average annual volume of
water discharged from Taylor Park for the period from
1952 to 1988 was approximately 154,000 AF." In 1990 a
decree was issued in Water Division 4 to clarify the rights
to the "second fill" of Taylor Park reservoir. This decree
ratified practices in place under an exchange agreement
with the Aspinall Unit and is described after this report's
explanation of the Aspinall Unit.

2. Aspinall Unit

The Aspinall Unit, constructed in the 1960s and
1970s, includes three dams and their like-named reser-
voirs: Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal. Together,
they back up the Gunnison for forty river miles, from ten
miles below the City of Gunnison all the way to the
Gunnison Thnnel. These facilities provide water for,
among other things, hydroelectric power, flat-water

Gunnison Basin Water

MOlTOW Point Dam
Source: Bureau of Reclamation

. 3 .