FLOOD01459

• County: Gunnison
• Community: Uncompahgre Valley
• Title: Upper Gunnison-Uncompahgre Basin Phase 1 Feasibility Study Summary Report
• Date: 5/1/1989
• Prepared For: Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority
• Prepared By: HDR Engineering, Inc.
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Project

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The term "regulatory" was coined to describe the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit
(Aspinall Unit) of the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) which was
constructed by the Federal government primari ly to regul ate Gunni son Ri ver
flows, The Aspinall Unit is comprised of three storage reservoirs located on
the main stem of the Gunnison River: Blue Mesa, Morrow Point and Crystal.
Flows of the Gunnison River are largely controlled by Blue Mesa Reservoir, the
largest and uppermost of the three. Each of the three reservoirs includes a
hydroelectric generating facil ity for the purpose of project repayment. The
total combined installed capacity of the three plants is 208,000 kilowatts
(kW). The primary function of the Aspinall Unit, however, is to regulate
streamflow so that water commitments to the Lower Colorado River Basin can be
met in dry periods without curtailing the development of water allotted to the
Upper Basin.

The only commercial hydroelectric power generating station in the Study
Area other than the Aspinall Unit facilities, is the Ouray facility. The
Ouray hydropower plant is a 700 kW run-of-river facility owned and operated by
the Colorado Ute Electric Association, It is located on the Uncompahgre River
within the town of Ouray.

Agri culture has hi stori cally been the 1 argest user of water withi n the
Study Area. Irrigated agriculture has been practiced in the area since the
late 1800's. Three U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) projects which provide
irrigation water from storage serve agricultural lands within the area. These
projects are the Uncompahgre Project (Taylor Reservoir), Bostwick Park Project
(Silver Jack Reservoir) and the Dallas Creek Project (Ridgway Reservoir).
These projects are owned by the USBR but are operated and maintained by the
Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Associ at ion (UVWUA), the Bostwi ck Park Water
Conservancy District (BPWCD) and the Tri-County Water Conservancy District
(Tri -County) . Each of these organi zat ions is al so responsi bl e for repayment
of the project loans. The Uncompahgre Project irrigates 86,000 acres, the
Bostwi ck Park Project irrigates 7000 acres, and the Dallas Creek Project
provides 11,000 acre-feet (af) of supplemental supply to presently irrigated
acreage in the Uncompahgre Valley,