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<br />Sl)t..Ooc.21,1~91 <br /> <br />Rocky Mountain Now'J <br /> <br />.21 <br /> <br />Gunnison project gets go-ahead <br /> <br />AB Lateral proposal <br />gets federal approval <br />despite near doubling <br />of water diversions <br /> <br />By John Brinkley <br />: Ntu's Wtuhill,IoII Rllr,aw <br /> <br />WASHINQTON - Alter a year's <br />delay, the federal government Fri- <br />day recommended ::.pprovaJ oC a <br />controversial water project in <br />western Colorado, <br />The Cederal Bureau of Reclama- <br />ition's "record of decision" on the <br />AB Lateral Project, proposed for <br />tOMtruction on the Gunnison Riv. <br />er near Montrose, recommends <br />that it be allowed to go Corward, <br />even though It would nearly double <br />the volume of water diversions <br />from the river abo....e the Black <br />Canyon oC the Gunnison National <br />Monument. <br />The decision sets out certain <br />conditions that the project'! spon- <br /> <br />sors must meet to protect stream- <br />nows through the Black Canyon, <br />They indude a guaranteed mini- <br />mum streamflow oC 300 cubic. <br />Ceet-per-second through the can- <br />yon and an agreement to honor <br />any quantified federal reserved <br />water right for the monument. <br />The sponsor!, the Uncompah- <br />gre Valley Water Users Associa- <br />lion and Montrose Partners, can <br />now consider these conditions and <br />others and "decide if they still <br />have a project," said Bureau oC <br />Reclamation commissioner Dennis <br />Underwood. "We think there's <br />still a ....iable project." <br />The bureau had hoped to ap- <br />prove the project last December, <br />but it put off its decision until the <br />National Park Service could quan- <br />tify the national monument'! wa- <br />terright. <br />The Park Service has yet to do <br />that, but the Bureau of Reclama. <br />tion went ahead with its approval <br />because of an agreement by AB <br />Lateral's sponsors to sign a con- <br /> <br />tract requiring them to pr.otect <br />streamRows Ihrough the canyon. <br />U,S. Rep. Ben Nighthoue <br />Campbell, o-Colo., has introduced <br />legislation to make the Black Can- <br />yon a national park and to desig- <br />nate 26 miles of Ihe Gunnison as <br />wild and scenic, <br />Since the bureau decided to prQoo <br />teet streamf10ws through a con- <br />tract rather than a through a fed- <br />eral reserved water right (or the <br />Black Canyon, "we're hoping that <br />contract is really strict," she said. <br />The Wilderness Society's Dar- <br />rell Knufke called the bureau's <br />decision "unfortunate." <br />"It seems to me dangerous in <br />the extreme 10 allow an expanded <br />upstream use until we know what <br />the monument is going to gel." <br />The AB lateral Project would <br />divert water from the Gunnison to <br />an elettric power plant on the <br />Uncompahgre River near Mon- <br />trose. It would provide Public <br />Service Co. of Colorado with about <br />43 megawatts of power. <br /> <br />-, <br /> <br />Colorado River negotiations <br />exclude Upper Basin states <br /> <br />AsstJdat,d Puu <br /> <br />PHOENIX - Attempts by <br />California and Nevada to obtain <br />larger shares oC the Colorado <br />River's water are driving Cuture <br />talks behind closed doors, <br />Betsy Rieke, director of the <br />Arizona department of Water <br />Resources, said the next meet- <br />ing wiU involve only the Lower <br />Colorado River Basin states - <br />Arizona, California and Nevada. <br />That meeting tentatively is <br />set for Jan. 31 in Arizona. <br />Cahfornia's request drew op.. <br />position from the other states <br />during public meetings in Den- <br />ver and Phoenix. Other states <br />involved in those meetings in. <br />duded Utah, Wyoming, Colora- <br />do and New Mexico. <br />But a meeting oC all seven <br />once set for early January in <br />California has been canceled be- <br /> <br />cause "those discussions were <br />not productive," Rieke said. <br />"We still don't see a solution <br />that benefits Arizona and (hat <br />protects Arizona, as well as gl\.. <br />ing California and now Nevada <br />what they want," she said. <br />Arizona official say their <br />state should be diverting its full <br />share immediately, even if It <br />isn't yet needed. <br />Though Arizona may not <br />need that much for another 1 0 <br />years, "We should be diverting <br />as much water as we possibly <br />can Cram the Colorado River <br />system and either putting it 10 <br />use or storing it undergrounrl," <br />said Larry L.inser, depul}" statt' <br />water resources director. <br />California's share ot the aver. <br />age 15 million acre.foot annual <br />now oC the river is 4.4 million <br />acre.feet. Nevada's is 300,000 <br />acre-feel. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />I' / <br />C."/,,. tl.l il I? o/d~ <br /> <br />AIe?ol.J/~ PJji <br /> <br />eo.l.Lm:'- j/~ '&'..:/;,dk~ <br /> <br /> <br />. . <br /> <br />We' C ose all 8 World of Sleep stores at 3PM Tuesday 10 our employees can spend Christmas Eve with <br />their families, For your convenience, our warehouse will be open for lost-minute pickups till 3PM also, <br /> <br />- - --- -- - -. -..- UA, "~n ""CTnAJIERS' <br /> <br />~. <br /> <br />.1lOoo._,...r" <br /> <br />. <br />