WSPC02445

• File Number: 8210.761.09.C
• Description: Colorado River-Federal Agencies-US NPS-Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 1/1/3000
• Title: Legislation to Make BC a National Park-Background and Goals of Proposed Aspinall-Black Canyon Contract
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Section I - Introduction

Attachment 1

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Background

The Depanment of the Interior,
represented by the Bureau of Reclamation
(Reclamation), National Park Service (NPS),
and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is
initiating formal studies to provide a long-
tenn water supply from the Wayne N.
Aspinall Unit (Aspinall Unit) to the Black
Canyon of the Gunnison National
Monument (Monument) by means of a
water service contract. On December 18,
1991, Commissioner of Reclamation Dennis
B. Underwood announced that the agencies
would enter into formal negotiations on the
proposed contract. The Colorado Water
Conservation Board (CWCB), a state agency,
will also panicipate in these studies and may
be signatorY to the water contract.

The Aspinall Unit IS operated by
Reclamation and is located in Gunnison and
Montrose Counties, Colorado, along a 40-
mile stretch of the Gunnison River below the
city of Gunnison. It consists of a series of
three dams and reservoirs--Blue Mesa,
Morrow POint, and Crystal. All of the land
and water areas of the reservoirs are included
in the Curecanti National Recreation Area for
management of recreation by the NPS. The
Monument, also managed by the NPS, is
located in Montrose County, approximately 2
miles downstream from the Aspinall Unit. It
includes approximately 14 miles of the
Gunnison River. The Gunnison' Gorge
includes another 16 miles of the river below
the Monument, and is managed by the BLM
as a Special Recreation Management Area. A
location map is included as the frontispiece.

Goals of Proposed Contract

The five main goals and 'concepts of this
proposal are to provide for the long-term
protection of:

-Aspinall Unit water storage purposes
-Natural environment of the Monument
-Natural environment and recreational use ,
of the Gunnison Gorge
-Colorado's ability to use water under its I
compact entitlement I
-Downstream endangered fish species !

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It is also expected the proposed contract \
would help to resolve issues related to I
quantification of the Monument's reserved \
water right claims in State water coun. I

The pannership between Federal and State
agencies is designed to result in balanced
water resource management that will protect
the environmental values of the Monument
while maintaining the water storage and
delivery purposes of the Aspinall Unit.

Typically, Reclamation develops projects
to provide water for purposes stated in each
project's authorizing legislation. For the
Aspinall Unit, water is stored for several uses,
including water supplies for municipal.
industrial, and agricultural uses; water
conservation; flood control and regulating the
flow of the Colorado River; fish, wildlife, and
recreation; and hydropower production.
Water service contracts are the written "tools"
which detine terms and conditions by which
water stored by the Aspinall Unit is made
available for these uses.

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