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. ,I\. ,"'" ~. '/.~ .~ . ~',' \W t-;;"<-, k),) ~ ,. " . - .' ~ ; .~ :7 March 12, 1991 FAcrSHEET GUNNISON RNER BASIN WATER MANAGEMENT & PLANNING PRomCf PRomCf ORIGINS The history of water administration in the Gunnison River Basin can be divided into three distinct eras. Prior to the construction of Taylor Park Reservoir in the 1930's, water rights throughout the basin were administered according to direct-diversion priority. Senior demands by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users (UVWUA) on the Uncompahgre River and on the Gunnison at the Gunnison Tunnel forced curtailment of junior rights during the latter part of every irrigation season. After Taylor Park Reservoir was made available to UVWUA, stored water could .be released to meet their late-season demands which remained even after curtailing junior rights. The Division Engineer was responsible for making sure no junior rights continued to divert while UVWUA was receiving its storage release. Any juniors who continued to divert were stealing storage water. This system of administration continued until the Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project (Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal Reservoirs) were built in the 1960's. Presence of the three large reservoirs between Taylor Park Reservoir and the Gunnison Tunnel made it possible for UVWUA to receive their late-season water from Blue Mesa instead of Taylor Park. This avoided the difficulty in policing their releases over many miles and past many junior headgates. The Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), operating the Aspinall Unit, no longer insisted on curtailment of junior rights, and absorbed the lass in storage which had been so important to UVWUA. By not asking for administration of the water released from Taylor Park Reservoir before it reached Blue Mesa, USBR was allowing water rights junior to the Gunnison Tunnel the free use of Blue Mesa and/or Taylor Park storage by exchange. By an agreement signed in 1975 (and confirmed in a recent water court decision), the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District (UGRWCD) solidified the part of this historic exchange involving Taylor Park Reservoir, although the method for final accounting for beneficial uses under the exchange is still under development. USBR has continued to supply free exchange water to rights junior to UVWUA's Gunnison Tunnel, in spite of the lack of any decree or agreement which requires them to continue the practice. The National Park Service is expected to announce a quantification of a federal reserved water right for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument soon. It will have an administrative priority date of 1937, and can be expected to impact all junior ". -----"--,-