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Moving Blue Mesa's Marketable Yield: A Myth o E. 60,000 AF Subordination for Upper Gunnison In-Basin Development The 60,000 AFA subordination, set aside out of Aspinall Storage for post-1957 water use, is the mainstay of the Upper Basin's water development future. Already it is estimated lhat over 8,000 AFA of this subordination amount has been committed to serving in-basin needs.'"' As development relying on the subordination increases, this will further reduce the amount of water in Aspinall's marketable yield. In fact, to carry out the intent of CRSPA and its prior commitments under the Subordination Agreements, the Bureau should subtract the entire 60,000 AFA from any yield of the Aspinall Unit, just as it should for instream flows for the Black Canyon and endan- gered fish. F. What the Drought Tells Us about Marketable Yield As described above, the Upper Colorado River Basin owes the Lower Basin an average of 7,500,000 AFA. In 2002, during the primary runoff months of April through July, only 1,110,000 AF flowed into Lake Powell, the Upper Basin's first line of defense against a compact call by the Lower Basin. This left Lake Powell with 15,200,000 AF in storage, 62% of its capacity, and only two years of the annual aver- age the Upper Basin owes the Lower Basin."'" If the current drought is a long-lasting one, it may not be too long before Lower Basin states will require water from storage in the Upper Basin beyond Lake Powell, specifically from Blue Mesa Reservoir. Releases from Blue Mesa for compact purposes would trump use of the marketable yield by the Front Range. It has also been exceptionally dry in the Gunnison Basin itself in the last three years, but especially so in 2002. July's unregulated flow in Blue Mesa was only 13,000 AF or 10% of average.'09 Blue Mesa's storage in early August was only 364,000 AF, less than half its capacity, and it went much lower than this level thereafter. Water was released out of Aspinall to serve UVWUA:s Gunnison Tunnel right, but, even so, the UVWUA received only 60% of its entitlement. The Redlands Irrigation District had to curtail some of its diversions. The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) has been experiencing difficulties in meeting the electrical demands of its customers."" This is simply not a basin with water to spare, especially in a drought. G. Other Hurdles to the Use of the Marketable Yield by the Front Range Even if a small amount of marketable yield were legally available, there are many additional federal, state, and local permits and approvals, beyond compliance with the ESA, that a potential trans-mountain diversion project would have to obtain. We describe two of these approvals in this section: the need to obtain federal approval (through a Clean Water Act S404 permit and the National Environmental Policy Act); and the approval required under County land use regulations. Gunnison Basin Water .29.