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<br />SCOPING REpORT
<br />GUNNISON RIVER CONTRACT
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<br />A. Background
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<br />In the 1982 Colorado State water rights adjudication of the United States v. Denver, 656
<br />P.2d 1, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument (Black Canyon) was deck~'~ ,Ide,....;"
<br />a conditional, Federnl reserved instream flow water ril1ht on the Gunnison River with a 1933. ,eo.r(f
<br />"'1:h&~':r"I,Fr-r A..:S ,,~;; bee.t? '$?U~ f-t:r',ed.
<br />priQ,r.ity date. A proposal to supply water to the Black Canyon by means of a water delivery
<br />contract from the Federal Reclamation project reservoirs of the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit
<br />(Aspinall Unit), located immediately upstream from the Black Canyon, was stimulated by the
<br />need to quantify that right and proposals to develop large amounts of water in the Gunnison
<br />River Basin. In January 1991, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), National Park Service
<br />(NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BlM), and Colorado Water Conservation Board
<br />(CWCB) began examining the possibility of providing a long-term water supply to the Black
<br />Canyon and the downstream Gunnison Gorge from Blue Mesa Reservoir. It was agreed that
<br />such a contract should be seriously considered, and the agencies' intent to pursue negotiating
<br />a water delivery contract was announced by BOR's Commissioner in December 1991.
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<br />To initiate activities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), scoping for the
<br />contract proposal commenced in the spring of 1992 and involved participation by each of the
<br />above ageQcies. Also in the spring, BOR began providing flows from the Aspinall Unit to'
<br />assist in studies on the effects of the Aspinall Unit operation on downstream endangered fish,
<br />pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act and the "Recovery Implementation
<br />Program for Endangered Fish Species i~ the Upper Colorado River Basin.~' The goal of this
<br />program is to recover the endangered Colorado squaw fish, razorback sucker, humpback
<br />chub, and bony tail chub in the Colorado River and its tributaries such as the Gunnison River.
<br />Historically, these species were known to have occurred in the Gunnison River, primarily
<br />below its confluence with the Uncompahgre River at Delta, Colorado and downstream from
<br />both the Black Canyon and the Gunnison Gorge. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
<br />participated in the scoping effort to help address questions relevant to endangered fish issues.
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<br />Formerly the Curecanti Unit, the Aspinall Unit was authorized by the 1956 Colorado River
<br />Storage Project Act. The Aspinall Unit assists Colorado and the other Upper Basin States
<br />(Utah, WYOming, New Mexico) in utilizing their apportionment of Colorado River water
<br />while meeting obligations to deliver water to the Lower Basin States (California, Arizona,
<br />Nevada, and New Mexico) and Mexico, as agreed to by the 1922 Colorado River Compact
<br />and the 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact (Compact entitlement). The Aspinall
<br />Unit developed the water storage and hydroelectric power generating potential along a 40-
<br />mile section of the Gunnison River by the construction of three dams and poweq>lants: Blue
<br />Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal. The dams and poweq>lants of the three reservoirs are
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