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measure progress toward recovery. As timeframes are met, water development will continue. Reclamation serves as the lead agency in implementing construction projects and water acquisition activities under the RIPRAP. Restoring passage for endangered fish to historic habitat in the Gunnison R,iver and providing water to critical habitat for the fish have been identified as two high priority tasks in the RIPRAP. Accomplishing these tasks will provide a measurable increase in suitable habitat available to endangered fish and will constitute significant progress toward recovery of the Colorado squawflsh and razorback sucker. Gunnison River The Gunnison River originates in west central Colorado at the junction of the East and Taylor Rivers in Gunnison County. From there, it flows 25 miles into Blue Mesa Reservoir, one of three reservoirs comprising the Aspinall Unit. Downstream from the reservoirs, the river flows approximately 110 miles to its confluence with the Colorado River at Grand Junction. The Redlands Diversion Dam is a privately owned and operated structure located on the Gunnison River 2.3 miles upstream from the confluence with the Colorado River (frontispiece map). The Redlands Water and Power Company (RWPC) constructed the diversion dam in 1918 and has since modernized and upgraded it. The concrete dam is 8.5 feet high and consists of a 312-foot-long spillway with a 6-foot-wide crest and two lO-foot-wide by 6-foot-high sluice gates. A flow of 750 cubic feet per second (cfs) is diverted through four 14-foot-wideheadgates on the west side into the Redlands Canal. This flow is used for iIrigation water and hydroelectric power generation, In 1983, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) exempted the Redlands Water and Power Company from licensing under FERC regulations. This exemption required that fish passage be allowed around the dam. Related Proiects Many existing water projects and related activities are in place and new developments are being considered for the Gunnison River Basin. There are more than 5,000 direct diversion decrees presently in use on the Gunnison River. In addition to water rights for these direct diversions, there are water storage rights; with the largest single developed storage right being the 939,206 acre-foot decree (plus a refill decree of 122,702 acre-feet) for Blue Mesa Reservoir of the Aspinall Unit. Major existing projects upstream from the Redlands Diversion Dam site include: the Uncompahgre Project which diverts over 300,000 acre-feet of water from the Gunnison River for iIrigation and the Aspinall Unit which stores water in Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal Reservoirs for conservation and beneficial use, flood control, fish and wildlife, recreation, and hydropower. Smaller Reclamation projects include the Paonia, Smith Fork, Dallas Creek, Bostwick Park, and Froitgrowers Projects. Projects such as the Uncompahgre Project and the Redlands Diversion Dam have very senior water rights. Under the Colorado River Salinity Control Program, Reclamation and the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association have discontinued winter stock water flows through canals and laterals 3