WSP07800

• File Number: 8220.100.25
• Description: CRSP
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 12/15/1960
• Author: UCRC
• Title: Colorado River Storage project Construction and Investigation Activities
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

COLORADO RIVER STORAGE PROJECT
CURECANTI UNIT

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LOCATION:

On the Gunnison River, a tributary of the COlOJ;ado
River in west-central Colorado.

AUTHORIZATION: Public Law 485, 84th Congress, 2nd Session (70 Stat.
109), approved April 11, 1956, subject to certification
by the Secretary of the Interior that the benefits will
exceed the cost. Such certification on two (namely,
the Blue Mesa and Morrow Point) main features was
made July 14, 1959. Also, Public Law 85-529 (74 Stat.
225) approved June 27, 1960.

PLAN:

The ultimate plan for the Curecanti unit includes a series of dams,
reservoirs, and powerplants that would fully develop the power head
along a 40-mile canyon section of the Gunnison River below Gunnison,
Colorado, and above the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National
Monument.

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In addition to power generation, the Curecanti unit will regulate
the flow of the Gunnison River, thus providing benefits to flood
control and irrigation. The reservoirs will provide extensive rec-
reational benefits, part of which will be within the adjacent Gun-
nison National Forest. The reservoirs will adversely affect fish
and wildlife resources according to estimates of the Bureau of
Sport Fisheries and Wildlife.

Flows of the Gunnison River will be largely controlled by the Blue
Mesa Reservoir, the larger and uppermost of the two initial reser-
voirs. Water released f:-om the Blue Mesa Reservoir through a
powerplant at the dam will receive short-term regulation at the
Morrow POiilt Reservoir immediately downstream. Water releases
through the Morrow Point Dam and powerplant will be relatively
uniform in order to satisfy downstream water rights and to maintain
a flow of 100 second-feet or more through the Black Canyon of the
Gunnison National Monument. The power output of the Blue Mesa
powerplant will fluctuate to meet variations in load requirements
while the Morrow Point powerplant will be operated more for base
loads, particularly during the irrigation season. Power from both
plants will be transmitted to load centers over transmission lines
which will interconnect powerplants of the Colorado River Storage
project with existing power systems in the power market area.

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