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<br />: <br /> <br />., t <br /> <br />CRDSS Task Order <br /> <br />Task Order Title: <br />Task Order Number: <br />Consultant: <br />Project Execution Date: <br />Project Completion Date <br />Estimated Cost: <br /> <br />Gunnison Basin Consumptive Use Evaluation <br />LR-5 <br />Leonard Rice Consulting Engineers <br />September 1, 1997 J <br />January 15, W97- /977 11../5(">'7 <br />$ .25,OOtT" 2--1:>" J <br />I <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />A basin-wide program for protecting junior water rights in the Gunnison Basin from <br />administrative calls by large senior water rights is needed. The senior water rights fall into two <br />groups. The first group includes the water rights of the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit (formerly known <br />as the Curecanti Unit) of the Colorado River Storage Project, The second group includes other <br />downstream senior water rights such as the Gunnison tunnel, the Redlands Power Canal, and <br />potentially the Black Canyon of the Gunnison federal reserved water right. <br /> <br />Since the 1960's the United States has committed to allow up to 60,000 acre-feet of depletions of <br />water for the beneficial use in the Gunnison Basin to take place above the Aspinall Unit under <br />water rights junior to the Aspinall Unit, This depletion allowance is distributed spatially among <br />the three Aspinall Unit reservoirs as follows: 10,0000 acre-feet between Crystal and Morrow <br />Point Reservoirs, 10,000 acre-feet between Morrow Point and Blue Mesa Reservoirs and 40,000 <br />acre-feet above Blue Mesa Reservoir. To formally implement the Aspinall depletion allowance, a <br />means of accounting for the depletions which occur upstream of and under water rights junior to <br />the Aspinall Unit is needed, <br /> <br />In addition, a basin-wide augmentation plan is needed to provide basin-wide protection against <br />calls by the other downstream senior rights. To implement a basin-wide plan for augmentation, a <br />means is needed by which existing depletions throughout the basin under water rights junior to the <br />senior downstream rights can be quantified on a monthly basis, The depletion estimates will be <br />used to determine the amount of stored water that will be needed to provide replacement for the <br />depletions under the junior water rights. <br /> <br />This task order is intended to provide estimates of historic consumptive uses that occur in the <br />Gunnison Basin above the Aspinall Unit. This serves as a starting point in the development of a <br />tool that will allow investigation of basin wide consumptive uses above and below the Aspinall <br />Unit. <br /> <br />Obiective <br /> <br />The Objective of this Scope of Work is to <br />1. Estimate the water supply limited historic consumptive use (irrigation; municipal, domestic <br />1 <br /> <br />1564 <br />