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<br />.4. <br /> <br />The land and Water Fund of the Rockies <br /> <br /> <br />CD <br /> <br />The Gunnison: A Basin In Balance <br /> <br />recreation, irrigation, fish and wildlife use (both in the reservoirs and in the river <br />downstream), and meeting Colorado River Compact requirements for providing water <br />to downstream states. <br /> <br />. Facilities: <br />. Year: <br />. Location: <br />. Water Use: <br /> <br />Aspinal Unit <br /> <br />Blue Mesa Dam, Morrow Point Dam, Crystal Dam <br />Completed 1966, 1968, and 1976 respectively <br />Beginning 10 miles west of Gunnison to the Gunnison Tunnel <br />Average storage capacity of 1.2 million AF <br /> <br />Blue Mesa Dam is located about 30 miles west of Gunnison. Blue Mesa <br />Reservoir, backing upriver to the east, has a maximum storage capacity of about <br />940,000 AF and is the largest reservoir in the state. Twelve miles further downstream <br />is Morrow Point Dam. Morrow Point Reservoir can store roughly 120,000 AF. Six <br />miles below are Crystal Dam and Reservoir, which re-regulate Ihe river, smoothing <br />out the spike flows of Blue Mesa and Morrow Point so there is a more stable release <br />into the river below the Aspinall Unit. <br /> <br /> <br />The Aspinall Unit holds enormous water rights in the basin and governs the <br />release of water for most of the in-stream uses described in Section B, below. It has <br />greatly changed water management in the basin and holds the potential to better meet <br />in-stream needs through re-operation of its storage and release schedule. <br /> <br />Aspinall was authorized by the Colorado River Storage Project Act ("CRSPA"), <br />wherein Congress directed the Bureau to construct dams and storage facilities to initi- <br />ate the comprehensive developmenl of the water resources in the Upper Colorado <br />River Basin for several purposes, including irrigation, storage, flood control, and <br />hydropower." In 1968, the Colorado River Basin Project Act amended CRSPA to <br />establish recreation and fish and wildlife uses as primary purposes of all CRSPA <br />reservoirs.15 <br /> <br />The Colorado River Water Conservation District ("River District") obtained <br />conditional Colorado water rights for the Aspinall Unit (priority date November 13, <br />1957) through water court decrees in 1960 and 1961,16 The decrees were obtained for <br />