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<br />......, <br />N <br />lr:l <br />~ <br /> <br />CHAPTER III <br /> <br />WATER RIGHTS <br /> <br />Existing Reclamation Developments <br /> <br />Rights to use of water for future development in the Upper Gunnison <br />River Basin are closely related to rights of two prior Bureau of Recla- <br />mation developments in the basin--the Curecanti unit of the Colorado <br />River Storage project and the Uncompahgre project, <br /> <br />The Curecanti unit was one of the four initial units of the Colo- <br />rado River Storage project authorized by the act of April 11, 1956, The <br />plan for the unit provides for construction of the Blue Mesa, Morrow <br />Point. and Crystal features in do~stream order in a 40-m11e stretch of <br />the Gunnison River immediately do~stream from the Upper Gunnison proj- <br />ect area, Each feature will consist of a dam, reservoir, and powerplant, <br />The Blue Mesa and Morrow Point features are now under construction, The <br />Crystal feature has been found by the Secretary of the Interior to be <br />economically justified so that construction may be started when funds <br />are appropriated, The Curecanti unit will have as its primary function <br />the development of water storage and hydroelectric power potentialities, <br />The unit will contribute some regulated flows at Lee Ferry in northern <br />Arizona, the dividing point between the Upper and Lower Colorado River <br />Basins, to aid in meeting requirements of the Colorado River Compact of 1 <br />1922 and the Mexican Water Treaty of 1945, By helping to meet these <br />requirements, it will permit an increase in consumptive use of water in <br />the upper basin for irrigation and municipal and industrial purposes, <br />The unit also will benefit recreation and flood control, <br /> <br />The Uncompahgre project was authorized in 1902 and, after develop- <br />ment by stages, was completed in 1937, The project was constructed for <br />irrigation and presently serves approximately 76,500 acres of land along <br />the Uncompahgre River, a tributary of the Gunnison River, which flows <br />into the Gunnison about 40 miles below the site for the Crystal Dam of <br />the Curecanti unit, Part of the irrigation supply is obtained within <br />the project area from the natural flow of the Uncompahgre River, the <br />natural flow of minor tributary streams within the project area, and <br />seepage waste water and return flow, The remainder is obtained from <br />flows of the Gunnison River diverted to the project area in the 6-mile- <br />long Gunnison tunnel which heads on the river about a mile below the Crys- <br />tal Dam site, Project regulation for part of the Gunnison River flow is <br />provided on the tributary Taylor River in Taylor Park Reservoir above the <br />Curecanti unit and the Upper Gunnison project area, The reservoir has a <br />capacity of 106,200 acre-feet, <br /> <br />11 <br />