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Moving Blue Mesa's Marketable Yield: A Myth o Efforts to secure federal reserved water rights and restore the Black Canyon have been in progress for several decades." In 1972, as part of a basin-wide adjudica- tion, the Park Service applied for a federally reserved water right for the Black Canyon. In 1978, the water court granted the Black Canyon a conditional water right. The court determined the purposes behind reserving the Black Canyon's water right were to protect fish and wildlife resources and to preserve the Canyon's scenic, aes- thetic, natural, and historic attributes. The water court issued a conditional decree granting the United States conditional water rights for the maintenance of minimum stream flows in the Gunnison River necessary to fulfill those purposes. The condi- tional decree instructed the Park Service to return to court to quantify its reserved right, making its conditional right absolute. In January 2001, the United States filed its claims for quantification. The fil- ing includes the Park Service's best estimation of the amount and timing of the water flows needed to protect the Park for "present and future generations," the obligation required of the Park Service for each of its Park units. Supported by dozens of ecolog- ical studies and academic literature, it claimed base flows and spring peak flows based on the natural hydrograph. As a result, like the Recommended Flows for Endangered Fish explained above, the Park Service filing would have the Black Canyon receive a share of the water both in "wet" years, when there will be relatively large spring peak flows and base flows, and in "dry" years, when flows are consider- ably smaller. Also like meeting the Recommended Flows for Endangered Fish, meet- ing Black Canyon flow requirements may involve releasing water that decreases the Aspinall Unit's marketable yield. The United States has expressed sensitivity to other water uses in the basin: on the cover page of its water rights filing, it states its desire to negotiate with all interested stakeholders. The negotiations may lead to a new protocol for storage and release at the Aspinall Unit, to provide a year-round flow regime that provides for the Park's needs by more closely mimicking the natural hydrograph. In the fall of 2002, the United States was granted an additional six months to negotiate the case before litigation begins. The United States also suggested it is poised to significantly revise its initial filing to assure protection for existing private water use in the Upper Basin and to avoid contributing to flooding in the town of Delta. Significant discussion remains related to how flows for the Black Canyon will inter-relate with the "yield" of the Aspinall Unit. 4. Deliveries and Entitlements Under the Colorado River Compacts No compact calls have been made requiring the release of Aspinall water to lower basin states. Past consumption patterns for Colorado River Basin water are not a reliable guide for the future, however. Water flows were exceptionally high when the apportionment was made, so it turns out that Upper Colorado River Basin states are entitled to a smaller apportionment than was originally estimated. When apportioning water between the Upper and Lower Basin states eighty years ago, hydrologists chose an unusually wet period of record to measure precipita- Gunnison Basin Water . 27 .