Laserfiche WebLink
<br />OG'~581 <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />Gunnison River Contract SCOOinlZ - SORTED Comments <br /> <br />'-;~f~?~~ <br /> <br />--scientific values (e.g., ecological studies) <br />3a. GREENO+; pI2,'S. (Issue N. Enfor~ment of Contract) <br />2) The statutory and regulatory authority for each agency to participate in the contract should be <br />clearly identified and analyzed. <br /> <br />~. <br /> <br />3a. <br /> <br />JORGENSON; pl,'2. 1. <br />fishing, the boating, the hunting. <br /> <br />We need to maintain the recreational values that exist today -- the <br />(Both river and lake) <br /> <br />3a. MCCCOREY; pl,'S. Monument Delivery: The concept of the proposed water delivery to the <br />Monument is basically to return the flows fa a pre-Wayne N. Aspinall Uilit water flow condition <br />throughout the 'year. Or in simpler words, to a more "natural" or Wilderness concept water flow <br />through the Monument (higher flows to coincide with spring run-off up to 3000 cfs then reducing .f1ows <br />by later summer and winter to less than 100 cfs). <br /> <br />3a. <br /> <br />MONTECON; p3,'S. 5. National Park Service control of the Gunnison flows. - The National <br />Park Service appears to have the most if not all of lbe say in how the water under the proposed <br />contract would be released. If the State were to ultimately divert or consumptively use its 300,000 <br />acre-feet, then the National Park Service will control essentially all the water that is left in Aspinall. <br />While many of the National Park Service's goals are certainly admirable, they may not totally reflect <br />what the community sees as environmentally beneficial. For example, the National Park Service may <br />want to enhance endemic fish, potentially at the expense of the trout in the gold medal fishery. Or the <br />National Park Service may want to enhance some resource within the Black Canyon (their mission), at <br />the expense of another resource in either the downstream Gunnison Gorge or Dominguez Canyon, such <br />as rafting or the upstream fishery within the Aspinall Unit. In essence, the National Park Service is <br />only concerned with what happens within tbe Black Canyon, but its decisions will affect the river all <br />the way to Grand Junction. Since the proposed contract is "in perpetuity" we are concerned about <br />giving tbe National Park Service exclusive control of Gunnison flows. <br /> <br />~J.i;":/":~~ <br />" ~ :.~-.-~ ;". <br /> <br />3a. MONTPART; p3,'1. 5. Contract 1.8m"'a2e. - We have one comment on the draft contract itself. <br />In WHEREAS Clause "c", you note that the NPS administers the Black Canyon under the 1916 <br />Organic Act (16 USC S.1. et. seq.) This is incorrect. Legally, National Monuments are instead. <br />administered under the "Antiquities Act" (34 Slat. 225) (See the initial Proclamation establishing the <br />Monument). This is more than a technicality. A5 the NPS correctly indicated in its opposition to <br />Congressman Campbell's National Park Complex Bill, a National Park is substantially different from a <br />National Monument. While both are administered by the NPS, the statutory protections that are <br />afforded each are also different, and governed by different acts of congress. I(the NPS is actually <br />asserting management authority under the Organic Act, it is, in our opinion. inappropriately expanding <br />on jurisdictional authorities set by congress. The NPS mayor may not agree; however. we caution the <br />Bureau against signing a contractual document tbat contains factual inaccuracies that could later <br />jeopardize the validity of the agreement itself, or could be used as a precedent in other mailers. The <br />potential controversy can be avoided by simply deleting the clause. <br /> <br />3a. SIERRA; pI,'2. ISSUES - 1) The Sierra .Club supports the contract negotiations as a <br />promising means of addressing tbe needs of competing resource uses. We do not however, believe that <br />these contract negotiations obviate the need for a federal reserved right for the various existing and <br />proposed land designations in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument. Existing <br />designations include a 1933 national monument reservation and a 1976 wilderness reservation. <br /> <br />3a. SIERRA; pl,'5. (ISSUE 1, cont) The analysis should also consider bow the proposed contract would <br />address the resource values and associated reserved rights that would be included Congressman <br /> <br />;-." <br /> <br />S <br />