WSPC04144

• File Number: 8200.400
• Description: Colorado River - Colorado River Basin - Colorado River Basin Briefing Documents/History/Corresp.
• State: CO
• Basin: Western Slope
• Date: 4/1/1951
• Author: Various Authors
• Title: Compilation of Resolutions, Comments, and Recommendations received by the CWCB Relating to the Reports on CRSP and Participating Projects and Gunnison River Development Plan
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

eo

G003{1

RESOLUTION
----------

V~REAS, officials of the Bureau of Reclamation under the sponsorship
of the Colorado Water Conservation Board have submitted to the citizenry of the
~pper Gunnison River Basin (which means that area from Crystal Creek east to the
Continental diVide) their plans for the construction of certain dams under the
Colorado River Storage Project report, for the storage of water in the Upper
Colorado River Basin, and

V{hereas, one of the da~s proposed, known as the Curecanti Dam, will, if
constructed, impound approximately 2,500,000 acre feet of water, and the reser-
v~ir will extend from the dam site east to within one mile of the city limits of
';;he City of Gunnison, Colorado, and all of the ranches, resorts, and other proper-
':.Y along the Gunnison River Basin between the dam site and the City of Gunnison
;'tCll be inundated, and

~fuereas, a series of meetings have been held in the upper Gunnison River
5c~in by the various groups and organizations for the purpose of determining
wheoher the construction of the Curecanti Dam would be beneficial or detrimental
t.~ the people in the upper part of the Gunnison River Basin, md

vVbereas, the Gunnison Watershed Conservation Committee was organized and
,~lected for the purpose of representing the interested organizations and people
'>1 the upper part of the Basin in connection with said matter, and

V{hereas, after care.t\tl and thorough consideration it is the opJ.me-n of the
people represented by said Committee that the losses and damages that will result
from the construction of the Curecanti Reservoir, as now planned, will far out-
weigh any benefits that might accrue to the people in this area, and that ~he
construction of the said Curecanti Dam as now pl~Th~ed ~~d the reservoir which
will rerot therefrom will cause irreparable injury anr- loss to the people and
)roperty in this area for the foll~ving reasons, to-wit:

1. That it will inundate approximately 20% of the ranch land in this part
of the Basin and that the ranches affected are some of the finest anYVlhere in the
state of Colorado; that it will completely inundate two towns, Sapinero and lola,
and twenty-three resorts and many private homes along the Gunnison River; U. S.
Highway No. 50, all approach roads, and approximately 27 miles of railroad,

2.
revenue to
$50,000.00

That the inundation of said lands will result in a loss of actual
the County of Gunnison from ad valorem taxes amounting to approximately
per year, or about 20% of the total operating budget of Gunnison County,

J. That the lands which will be inundated by the reservoir, as now planned,
enrry and support about 5,000 head of cattle and 1,000 head of sheep, and that
~his livestock will be lost to the tax strc.cture and economy of Gunnison County.

4. That the proposed reservoir, as new planned, will completely destroy
QPproximately 40 miles of the finest trout stream fishing in the United States
and about 50% of the winter range for big game in the upper Gunnison River Basin.