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capacities of the Aspinall Unit direct flow decrees are: Blue Mesa, 3500 cfs; <br />Morrow Point, 5450 cfs; and Crystal, 3000 cfs. <br />The depletions associated with each of these aggregated depletion demands <br />were derived from consumptive use calculations, estimates of irrigated acreage <br />served by specific ditches, diversion records, and detailed operating studies <br />of selected ditches. The depletions are allocated between water rights <br />prioriiy classes at each aggregation point in proportion to the amount of <br />decreed rights in each class at each point, and the assumption that diversions <br />take place first under the more senior water rights. <br />3.5 INSTREAM FLOW DECREES MODELED <br />There are several reaches of the Gunniso� River and its tributaries for <br />which minimum stream flows have been proposed or decreed. There is also <br />concern over instream flows for endangered species in the Colorado River. <br />These instream flow issues fall generally into four categories: 1) instream <br />flow decrees and recommendations of the Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />(CWCB), 2) privately held instream flow decrees, 3) potential minimum stream <br />flows associated with the proposed designation of the Gunnison River throu9h <br />the Black Canyon as a wild and scenic river, and 4) instream flow goals as <br />stated in the Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in <br />the Upper Colorado River Basin prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. <br />The CWCB administers Colorado's Instream Flow/Natural Lake Level Program <br />pursuant to Section 37-92-102(3) of the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.). <br />The CWCB is authorized to make applications in the Water Court for minimum <br />streamflows and minimum lake levels which it determines to be necessary to <br />preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree. The CWCB presently <br />holds or has applied for instream flow decrees on 180 stream reaches in the <br />Gunnison River Basin. <br />All of the CWCB decrees located on stream reaches downstream of existing <br />or proposed projects or downstream of existing diversions have been included <br />3-4 <br />