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. . . UPPER GUNNISON RIVER WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT Mitigation Proposal Page 9 of 10 pages The District proposes that this injury be mitigated by providing a "Winter mitigation pool" created by assessing each Base Unit an amount of water approximately equivalent to ten days' depletions (in addition to actual depletions and transit loss). Under the District's plan, the CWCB will be entitled to request that the Division Engineer order releases from Meridian Lake Reservoir at any time during late Fall or Winter when conditions (or future improvements in technology) would permit the discharge from the reservoir to flow to a reach of the stream protected by an instream flow right The CWCB may request the release in any amount up to the total Winter mitigation pool, whether or not the instream flow rights could be calling. B. Existing Wells in the Slate River Drainage. For existing wells located in the Slate River drainage serving dwelling units connected to the East River Treatment Plant, the Upper Gunnison District's plan contemplates replacing out-of- priority depletions of the Affected Reach of the Slate River during the period when the CWCB instream flow water rights and senior irrigation rights in the Affected Reach are likely to be calling for water. During the period 1994-2003, the CWCB instream flow water rights in the Slate River were not satisfied for an average of 47 days per year. The maximum number of days the instrearn flow water rights were not satisfied was 104.9 Historically, the majority of those days occurred in July, August and September. The period from July through September is also when senior irrigation rights would be calling if their entitlements are not being met The mitigation proposed by the District would permit owners of existing wells located in the Slate River drainage serving dwelling units connected to the East River Treatment Plant to provide replacement water for 79 days of actual depletions!O (0.084855 acre-feet per dwelling unit per year), plus transit losses and the Winter mitigation assessment described above. (These existing well owners would be entitled to acquire what is identified in the plan as a Class B Augmentation Certificate.) This figure represents the quantity of water stored in Meridian Lake Reservoir and available for release to provide replacement water to the Affected Reach of the Slate River when senior water rights place a call. The District believes that this amount of replacement water will provide a reasonable degree of protection to the natural environment in the Affected Reach of the Slate River, including full replacement of depletions in most years, and will permit existing well owners to participate in the District's plan by purchasing two Base Units at a cost of$3,000.00, plus annual operating and maintenance assessments. 9 The maximum occurred in 2002, the driest year of record in the basin. See Table I. 10 Calculated as 100% of diversions. This is characterized as "mitigation" because the CWCB is being asked to allow the owners of existing wells to purchase the right to release water for replacement of79 days' depletions, rather than 365 days' depletions.