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<br />I <br />I <br /> <br />~~R~~ <br /> <br /> <br />Wlnd!ioYrlers at Curecanb Na!JOllill Reoeat.oo Are.. <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />Water. Water IS a simple compound with important physical properties but its value <br />evolves with generations. Water shaped and carved the land in the Gunnison country <br />for eons. Meltwaters caused rushing streams with tremendous mudslides. Dinosaurs <br />fell. Apatosaur and Diplodocus bones would fossilize. The stark, sagebrush-covered <br />mesas of mud and sandstones would receive little rain. Erosion would slow and life <br />would survive In an arid climate. <br /> <br />Left alone, the Gunnison River would continue to meander and carve. The river would <br />provide a ribbon of life for cottonwoods and willows. native trout. and migrating birds. <br />People would hunt. people would gather. people would cook in rock-lined hearths. <br />Descendants would be remembered In place names-Chipeta. Sa pinero, Curicata. <br /> <br />Later. people would explore. migrate. and engineer. The river would present what <br />would seem to be a natural path to the West. a trail for a railroad. Cattle. sheep. <br />market goods. and people would be transported by a tiny train on a narrow railbed. <br />Communities would grow. tied by the train. The West would grow, and agriculture <br />would expand In the warm desert with enough water. The high. rugged. dry <br />landscape would not be interrupted by a narrow green thread. but by three large <br />reservoirs. Blue Mesa would be the largest reservoir in Colorado. storing water for <br />agriculture and power generation. Morrow Pornt. the first reservOir in the Black <br />Canyon would be formed behind a thin arch. double curvature. concrete dam <br />containing a massive power generating plant. <br /> <br />III <br />