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<br />to Salida, Colorado, but originally it was a part of the main railroad
<br />line from Gunnison to Montrose. No passenger service is operated on
<br />any" part of this narrow-gage system, The Sapinero branch is used for
<br />unscheduled freight service, largely for livestock and timber haulage
<br />from Sapinero to Gunnison. This Sapinero branch line, sooner or later,
<br />may be abandoned, irrespective of reservoir storage in the area tra-
<br />versed by it, but the Committee has no w~ of determining when such
<br />abandonment might occur.
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<br />As shown elsewhere in this report, the reduction of storage in the
<br />proposed Curecanti ReserVoir from 2,500,000 acre-feet to 940,000 acre-feet
<br />will result in an estimated reduction of the loss in tax returns to
<br />Gunnison County and its tax collecting subdivisions because of land in-
<br />undation, in the amount of at least 46 per cent, exclusive of returns
<br />from railroad valuation.
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<br />12. That the storage of 2,500,000 acre-feet of water in the
<br />Curecanti Reservoir, as proposed in the report of the Bureau of Reclama-
<br />tion, will have an adverse effect on the present fishery and game
<br />resources in the inundated area, An appraisal of these effects is
<br />furnished by the Colorado Game and Fish Department, as shown by Appen-
<br />dices J and K, hereto attached. The storage of 940,000 acre-feet of
<br />water instead of 2,500,000 acre-feet in the proposed Curecanti Reservoir,
<br />as recommended in this report, will materially reduce this adverse
<br />effect, As a matcer of fact, there is a wide difference of opinion as
<br />to whether there will be any adverse economic effects. It is contended
<br />by some that the recreational opportunities and economic returns made
<br />possible by large bodies of stored water in the area will more than off-
<br />set the detriments from the inundation of the Gunnison River valley
<br />floor, So far as fishery is concerned, there is involved in this
<br />matter t he sportsman's preference for stream or lake fishing; and there
<br />is also involved from an economic point of view the consideration of
<br />tourist attractions of rivers .and lakes, with all of their attendant
<br />recreational advantages. With a 940,000 acre-foot Curecanti Reservoir
<br />and a 510,000 acre-foot Crystal Reservoir, only about sixteen miles of
<br />the 49 miles of fishing on the Gunnison Ri.ver between Cimarron and
<br />Almont, where the confluence of Taylor and East Rivers form that river,
<br />will remain open for stream fishing, although there will also remain
<br />about 997 miles of fishery waters on the tributaries of the Gunnison
<br />River in Gunnison County. This reduction in fishery mileage, in some
<br />instances, offends State and local pride in a nationally famous fishing
<br />stream. The natural inertia against physical and economic changes in-
<br />herent in development of natural resources is also encountered, Thus,
<br />the problem of weighing widespread public benefits, in programs of
<br />water development, against direct local detriment, whether real or
<br />merely feared, and against the ideology of sportsmen, becomes a diffi-
<br />cult one, .
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<br />Considering all of these factors, it appears clear~
<br />however, that the future welfare and economic advanoement of Western
<br />Colorado, the State as a whole, and the Upper Colorado River basin
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