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<br />2-~J 1 <br />G~d l <br /> <br />----r-- 0 < '- <br /> <br />'YC'I <br /> <br />Se C<- ~ l VV\. <br /> <br />~~-er <br /> <br />,...--..J~ <br />E\'Ji.O \--} Y <br />~i.C _ <br />~t \ \ <br />\) ~~ <br />~~ <br /> <br />Quantification open house for the <br />Black Canyon National Monumen,t <br /> <br />0' C future transmountain dlver-.,J~bout 20 years ago, it received <br />UTeH LARK , . (1"1 t . ht th h C I <br />.. S < . slons. a wa er fig roug 0 _ <br />PECIAL TO THE TIMES . <br />As a spokesperson for orado's water court semqr to <br />POWER (P"ople Opposed to almost half the irrigation rights <br />Water EXpOl1 Raids), my friends in the Upper Gunnison Basin <br />asked me tb outline what is and senior by just a few months <br />. happening. First let me summa- to Taylor Reservoir. However, <br />rize POWER's tWo purposes as the amount of this right, Or its <br />an organization: (I) to 'oppose quantification, remains to be <br />transmountain diversions and determined. The meeting on <br />(2) to promote uses of water in Dec. 15 is the first public step in <br />the basin that enhance recre- this pI:ocess. <br />ational and environmental According to Colorado's <br />qualities. Both mean' doing courts, .quantificat~on of the <br />what is equitable, sustainable, manum.ent's "Yater right is lim. <br />and makes se'nse. ited to the minimum amoynt of <br />Second, here is some back- water needed to protect and <br />grdu'nd'. Ttle mqr:au.m~.nt: Was rnaintai,n., the monument's <br />created in the early 1930s, See Black Canyon on page 4 <br /> <br />, .~'~Quantification" is the topic <br />of' the National Park Service's <br />Qpen house on Dec. l~., from <br />5:30-9:30 p.m, at the Aspinall- <br />Wilson Center in Gunnison. <br />QuantifiCation is about deCid- <br />ing how much and when water <br />will fiow through the Black <br />Canyon . 'of the Gunnison <br />National Monument. The issues <br />are . tanKled tOKether and <br />emphasize the need for basin- <br />wide water planning. What is <br />aecided will influence water <br />use' in' our, tJpper~ GU'n'nison <br />Basin and 'opporhulities for <br /> <br />o <br />o <br />N <br />O"J <br />-J <br /><:..::> <br /> <br />------.------...- <br /> <br />(pJJ <br />\4\ <br />~\ <br /> <br />~<o <br /> <br />unique and' outstanding natur~11 <br />resources, features, and quah- <br />ties - a lot of water. Those want- <br />ing to build new ",:,ater projec.ts <br />for inside and outslde our basm <br />. did not anticipate how much, <br />. ith an appropriate quantifica- <br />tion, no water remains available <br />for transmountain diversion or <br />consumptive local water devel- <br />opment. <br />About 30 years later, the <br />three reservoirs of the Bureau of <br />Reclamation's Aspinall Unit <br />were built upstream of the mon- <br />ument. Since 1965, the unit's <br />operations have changed great- <br />ly the yearly pattern of water <br />flowing through the monument. <br /> <br />)' <br /> <br />'" <br /> <br />Ll <br />f' <br /> <br />Now during peak spring runoff. <br />the Black Canyon receives onl~ <br />about 25 percent of the flow It <br />had when the monument was <br />created, Yet, in late sum'1'er, fall, <br />and winter months the flows <br />through the canyon are about <br />three times greater. <br />Spring flows averaged more <br />than 7,700 cubic feet per second <br />(cfs) for the month of )u. <br />before Aspinall, provldmg <br />real and essential "spring dean. <br />ing" of the canyon, They pro- <br />duce and maintain Its outstand- <br />ing natural resources,. features <br />and qualities. <br />tn the late 1980s plans for <br />operating the Aspinall Unit <br /> <br />. <br />