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The term "regulatory" was coined to describe the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit <br />(Aspinall Unit) of the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP} which was <br />constructed by the Federal government primarily to regulate Gunnison River <br />flows. The Aspinall Unit is comprised of three storege reservoirs located on <br />the main stem of the Gunnison River: Blue Mesa, Morrow Point and Crystal. <br />Flows of the Gunnison River are largely controlled by Blue Mesa Reservoir, the <br />largest and uppermost of the three. Each of the three reservoirs includes a <br />hydroelectric generating facility for the purpose of project repayment. The <br />toial combined installed capacity of the three plants is 208,000 kilowatts <br />(kW). The primary function of the Aspinall Unit, however, is to regulate <br />streamflow so that water commitments to the Lower Colorado River Basin can be <br />met in dry periods without curtailing the development of water allotted to the <br />Upper Basin. <br />The only commercial hydroelectric power generating statien in the Study <br />Area other than the Aspinall Unit facilities, is the Ouray facility. The <br />Ouray hydropower plant is a 7�0 kW run-of-river facility oaned and operated by <br />the Colorado Ute Electric Association. It is located on the Uncompahgre River <br />within the town of Ouray. <br />Agricultare has historically been the largest user of water within the <br />Study Area. Irrigated agriculture has been practiced in the area since the <br />late 1800's. Three U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) projects which provide <br />irrigation water from storage serve agricultural lands within the area. These <br />projects are the Uncompahgre Project (Taylor Reservoir), Bostwick Park Project <br />(Silver Jack Reservoir) and the Dallas Creek Project (Ridgway Reservoir). <br />These projects are owned by the USBR but are operated and maintained by the <br />Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association (UVWUA), the Bostwick Park Water <br />Conservancy District (BPWCD) and the Tri-County Water Conservancy District <br />(Tri-County). Each of these organizations is also responsible for repayment <br />of the project loans. The Uncompahgre Project irrigates 86,�00 acres, the <br />Bostwick Park Project irrigates 7000 acres, and the Dallas Creek Project <br />provides 11,000 acre-feet (afJ of supplemental supply to presently irrigated <br />acreage in the Uncompahgre Valley. <br />� <br />