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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />L <br /> <br />Gunnison River at a point approximately 1 mile above the Gunnison <br />River confluence with the North Fork. The decree in C-5873 <br />establishes the Canal's right to divert up to 800 c.f.s. by <br />either direct flow from the Gunnison River at the axis of the <br />proposed Cedar Flats Reservoir sit~ or from storage in the <br />on-channel Cedar Flats Reservoir (District 40 Priority L-75 for <br />162,700 AF + refill). <br /> <br />{3. Source: The Gunnison River and tributaries. <br /> <br />{4. Appropriation Date, December 10, 1965, in the <br />amount of 800 c.f.s. <br /> <br />(5. Oriqinallv Decreed ,Uses: The original decree <br />found that the Rabbit Gulch Canal was part of a unified and <br />coordinated water project, which, at the time of the appropria- <br />tion, contemplated diversions for a 8-10 million tons per year <br />coal processing plant and for hydro and thermoelectric power <br />plants with a total capacity in the range of 4,000 megawatts. <br />The original decree permitted diversions to be made 24-hours a <br />day year around. The original decree also recognized the use of <br />water for domestic, recreational, piscatorial and wildlife <br />purposes, as well as for any and all other purposes connected <br />with the mining and processing of coal. <br /> <br />(6. Oriqinal Water Riqht's Draft on River. The <br />Rabbit Gulch Canal is part of the project known as the "Gunnison <br />Main Project" which includes hydroE;!lectric stations, a coal <br />processing plant and thermal electric generating plants. The <br />original decree finds "that for a project of this size and <br />character to be economically and efficiently operated it must be <br />operated at maximum capacity on a 24-hour daily basis 365 days a <br />year." Therefore, the maximum contemplated diversion of the 300 <br />c.f.s. donated water right to be changed is 300 c.f.s. x 1.9835 x <br />365 days = 217,193 AF or in leap years, 300 c.f.s. x 1.9835 x 366 <br />days = 217,788.3 AF. <br /> <br />B. Bifurcation of Ownershi~: CWCB by deed dated March <br />13, 1992, obtained the first 300 c~f.s. out of the 800 c.f.s. <br />decreed to Priority L-78 for the R~bbit Gulch Canal water right <br />("donated water right") from The Nature Conservancy (TNC). TNC <br />acquired its interest in the donated water right from the Pitts- <br />burg and Midway Coal Mining Company (P&M). A contract and <br />donation agreement to convey the first 300 c.f.s. of the 800 <br />c.f.s. Rabbit Gulch Canal Right toTNC, was executed on December <br />31, 1987 with the actual deed being delivered by P&M to TNC on <br />March 8, 1988. <br /> <br />2 <br />