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0,..... ., r-:' 1 . tJ_LtJ.....'~ H. Land Use Patterns and Economic Development All the land immediately adjacent to and within about one-fourth of a mile of the canyon and the proposed reservoir is in public ownership. The only exceptions are two small tracts of private land; one being an area at the upper end of the reservoir near Cimarron, and the second a small area below the proposed dam- site where the Gunnison tunnel and diversion works are located. The public lands within the reservoir take line will be admin- istered by the National Park Service as part of the Curecanti National Recreation Area. The public lands outside the take line are administered by either the Bureau of Land Management or the U.S. Forest Service. The principal sources of income in the area between Gunnison and Montrose are cattle raising, farming, and hunting and fishing resort operations. Certain areas of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River are a popular scenic attraction for tourists. III. PROJECT PLAN A. Need The Crystal segment of the Curecanti Unit is needed to max~~ze power generation capability at the Morrow Point Powerplant. This added power at Morrow Point together with production at Crystal will increase the annual hydroelectric power generation of the Unit by about 158 million kilowatt hours. The functions of the Crystal Dam and Reservoir are to produce power and regu- late the river. The inclusion of the Crystal segment in the project will reduce the time that would otherwise be required for repayment of the reimbursable costs of the storage units. After these reimbursable costs are paid, the Crystal segment will increase the power revenues available to the states of the Upper Colorado River Basin for assistance in repayment of irri- gation costs of participating projects. The plan of operation of the Curecanti Unit contemplated during formulation and justification of the associated facilities recog- nized that during critically low-flow years or periods of years there would not be enough water to operate Morrow Point Power- plant except to supply peak demands for 8 hours during weekdays. For the remaining 16 hours each weekday and on weekends and holidays there would be no release from Morrow Point Reservoir. Further, the historic low-flow recorded for the river below the Gunnison tunnel is 34 second-feet, although zero flow has been recorded at least seven times, according to gate records. This dry condition occurred when all flow in the river was diverted 5