BOARD02372

• Board Meeting Date: 3/29/1999
• Description: Quantification of Reserved Water Right for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLOMDO

.

.

..:

<.

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: (0)) 666.3441
FAX: [phone]

Agenda Item 2ip

e<

March 4,1999

Mr. Mark Wondzell
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument
2465 South Townsend Avenue
Montrose, Colorado 81401

Ref: Quantification of Reserved Water Right for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison
National Monument

Dear Mr. Wondzell,

e

I am.writing on behalf of the Colorado Water Conservation Board to submit its comments
on the quantification proposal for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument
(Monument) reserved water rights presented by the National Park Service (NPS) at public
meetings on December 15 and 16, 1998. I appreciate the chance to comment. The Board
is vitally concemed both with flows through the Black Canyon, where it has a decreed
instream flow right, and with the operation of the Aspinall Unit immediately upstream of
the Monument, which serves a number of purposes that benefit the State of Colorado.
The Board has participated in various efforts over the last ten years to accommodate the
needs of the NPS without impairing vital state and federal interests.

The Board appreciates and supports the NPS's efforts to settle its claims for the
Monument through negotiation rather than litigation. Negotiation offers a chance for a
solution that benefits all interests, while avoiding the risk, delay, and expense of
litigation. I do, however, wish to express concern and discomfort with the Park Service's
schedule for consideration of this proposal. Reserved water rights for the Monument
were judicially confirmed but not quantified in the U.S. v. Denver proceeding,
culminating in the Colorado Supreme Court's opinion in 1982. While the Bureau of
Reclamation (Reclamation) and the NPS have discussed a contract for Aspinall water to
satisfy the Monuments reserved water rights in the past, this is the first time the NPS has
come forward with any proposal to quantify its water rights. Nevertheless, at the public
meetings, representatives of the NPS seemed to expect that the numerous and complex
issues surrounding the quantification should be resolved in a matter of months.

Because there are so many complex issues to resolve, it is important that this process not
be rushed. In particular, Reclamation's consultation on the operations of the Aspinall
Unit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) under Section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act has yet to be .completed. The Service may recommend significant changes in
e Aspinall operations, and Aspinall unit operations affect water use and water availability

BiUQwens
Governor

Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director, ONR
Peter H. Evans.
Director, ewCB