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<br />BIG BLUE WILDERNESS <br /> <br />The Big Blue Wilderness is located in the Uncompahgre National Forest. This <br />area was designated by Congress as a wilderness by Public Law 96-560 (94 Stat. <br />3265) on December 22, 1980. The area contains 98,585 acres, of which 265 acres <br />are in non-Federal ownership. There are no non-Federal lands above the wilder- <br />ness. <br /> <br />It is estimated that the Big Blue Wilderness and a very small area of Bureau of <br />Land Management land above a portion of the wilderness produce an average of <br />132,200 acre feet of water per year. If entirely utilized, absolute water <br />rights within the wilderness would divert approximately 3,700 acre feet of the <br />water yield. <br /> <br />Within the wilderness, there are 5 absolute rights and no decreed conditional <br />rights on Federal lands; and, no absolute rights or decreed conditional rights <br />on non-Federal lands. Above the wilderness on the watershed, there are no <br />absolute rights or decreed conditional rights. <br /> <br />One of the non-Federal parcels of land within the wilderness is an elongated <br />mining patent of approximately 143 acres. The risk of future developments on <br />this site affecting the water resources of the Big Blue Wilderness is minimal <br />because it is not economically feasible to build a small project on an elon- <br />gated parcel of this size. A larger project would require the use of the <br />wilderness lands which would require Presidential authorization. Nor is it <br />feasible to attempt to divert water across the wilderness, which would require <br />Presidential authorization, because of the extremely rugged terrain. Further- <br />more. diversion and irrigation on site is infeasible because the average eleva- <br />tion is about 10,600 feet making it impractical for irrigation and production <br />of domestic crops. The remaining non-Federal land. approximately 122 acres, is <br />composed of small mining patents which are not suitable for water developments <br />because of their location on the slopes of mountains. <br /> <br />The following table for the Big Blue Wilderness lists the various water rights <br />existing in and where applicable above this wilderness. The various columns <br />identify the names of the Forest, structure and source of water, location, <br />amount and type of right, dates of appropriation and adjudication, date of <br />designation of the wilderness and the relationship of water rights to land <br />ownership in and above wilderness. <br /> <br />1 <br />