NPS Black Canyon Res Rt 4-01CW05

• Case Number: 92CW0107
• Stream Name: Gunnison River
• Watershed: Gunnison River
• Water Division: 4
• Water District: 62
• County: Delta
• Instream Flow Acq - Doc Type: Related Cases

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. . Agreement. .
Black Canyon of the Gnnnison National Park'

The undersigned parties, representing the Department of the Interior and the Colorado Water'
Conservation Board (CWCB), a division of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources,
hereby agree to the following:

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1. The National Park Service shall hold and benefit from a water right for the Black Canyon .'
of the Gunnison National Park, located on the Gunnison River in Colorado. The water
right shall be quantified for the Gunnison River from below the Gunnison Diverson Dam .
through the Black Canyon to the confluence with the North Fork of the Gumiison River,
in two parts, as follows:

a: A federal reserved water right of 300 cfs or natural flow, whichever is less, with a 1933
priority date. Such federal water right will satisfy the CWCB's existing instreain flow
decree.

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b. An instream flow water right under Colorado law with a 2003 priority date. Beginning
. with each year's April 1 forecast from the Colorado River-River Forecast Center, if Blue
Mesa Reservoir is projected to fill and spill by July 31, water beyond that which satisfies
. . present and future obligations of the authorized purposes of the Aspinall Unit, as specified
in the Colorado River Storage Project Act, 43 U.S.C. 9 620 et seq., as amended through
the date of this agreement, shall be held by the CWCB for decreed instream flow purposes
with a 2003 priority date.

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i. . As reflected in the chart below, the Bureau of Reclamation anticipates that, based
. on current operations of the Aspinall Unit pursuant to the authorized pmposes
(after the subordination of the Aspinall Unit to 60,000 acre-feet of depletion. .'
. upstream of the Unit for in-basin water use), the peak flow amounts reflected in
the chart can be reasonably expected, based on historical averages of the last .'
twenty-six years, to pass through the Aspinall Unit system by the Bureau of
. Reclamation through its operations, to be exercised by CWCB for the instream
. flow right with a 2003 priority .date. There is no guarap.tee that these same' .
amounts will be available in the future, however, becalise the ultimate amount of.
. water that will be available inthe future is dependent upon many factors, Including
. . where the water is removed from the system, the hydrology and the timing of the .'
hydrology~ future project demand, and reservoir elevation at the beginning of the
run-off season. In light of these considerations, on an annual basis and prior to the .
spring run-off, the Bureau of Reclamation shall consult with the National Park
Service, the Western Area Power Administration, the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service, the CWCB, the Colorado Water River Water Conservation